
Class / frzyO 
Book ♦ #V 



NITED STATES BUREAU OF EDUCATION 
iTIN, "**« NO. 27 WHOLE NUMBER 500 



HISTORY OF 

PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION 

IN ARKANSAS 



By STEPHEN B. WEEKS 

OF THE BUREAU OP EDUCATION 




WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1912 



ifm 



BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF EDUCATION. 

(Abridged titles.) 
1906. 

No. 1. The education bill of 1906 for England and Wales. Anna Tolman Smith. 
No. 2. German views of American education. William N. Hailmann. 
No. 3. State school systems, Oct. 1, 1904 to Oct. 1, 1906. E. 0. Elliott. 

1907. 

No. 1. The continuation school in the United States. Arthur J. Jones. 

No. 2. Agricultural education. James Ralph Jewell. 

No. 3. Auxiliary schools of Germany. B. Maennel. Translated by F. B. Dreselar. 

No. 4. The elimination of pupils from school. Edward L. Thorndike. 

1908. 

No. 1. On the training of persons to teach agriculture. L. H. Bailey. 

No. 2. list of publications of the United States Bureau of Education, 1867-1907. 

No. 3. Bibliography of education for 1907. J. I. Wyer, jr., and Martha L. Phelpi. 

No. 4. Music education in the United States.. Arthat L. Manchester. 

No. 5. Education in Formosa. Julean H. Arnold, American consul at Tamsui. 

No. 6. The apprenticeship system. Carroll D. Wright. 

No. 7. State school systems, Oct. 1, 1906, to Oct. 1, 1908. E. O. Elliott. 

No. 8. Statistics of State universities, etc., 1907-^8. 

1909. 

No. 1. Facilities for study and research in Washington. Arthur T. Hadley. 

No. 2, Admission of Chinese students to American universities. John Fryer. 

No. 3. Daily meals of school children. Caroline L. Hunt. 

No. 4. The teaching staff of secondary schools. Edward L. Thorndike. 

No. 5. Statistics of public, society, and school libraries in 1908. 

No. 6. Instruction in the fine and manual arts. Henry Turner Bailey. 

No. 7. Index to the Reports of the Commissioner of Education, 1867-1907. 

No. 8. A teacher's professional library. Classified list of 100 titles. 

No. 9. Bibliography of education for 1908-9. 

No. 10. Education for efficiency in railroad service. J. Shirley Eaton. 

No. 11. Statistics of State universities, etc., 1908-9. 

1910. 

No. 1. Reform in teaching religion in Saxony. Arley Barthlow Show. 

No. 2. State school systems, Oct. 1, 1908, to Oct. 1, 1909. . E. C. Elliott. 

No. 3. List of publications of the United States Bureau of Education, 1667-1910. 

No. 4. The biological stations of Europe. Charles Atwood Kofoid. 

No. 5. American schoolhouses. Fletcher B. Dresslar. 

No. 6. Statistics of State universities, etc., 1909-10. 

1911. 

No. 1. Bibliography of science teaching. 

No. 2. Opportunities for graduate study in agriculture in the United States. A. C. 

Monahan. 
No. 3. Agencies for the improvement of teachers in service. William C. Ruediger. 
No. 4. Report of the commission to study the public schools of Baltimore. 
No. 5. Age and grade census of schools and colleges. George Drayton Strayer. 

(Continued on p. 3 of cover.) 



UNITED STATES BUREAU OF EDUCATION 

BULLETIN, 1912: NO. 27 WHOLE NUMBER 500 



HISTORY OF 

PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION 

IN ARKANSAS 




WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1912 



ft 



*~<*7 



By STEPHEN B. WEEKS J— 

OF THE BUREAU OF EDUCATION 



V^4* 



n. o 



3* 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 

Letter of transmittal 5 

Chapter I. — The Americanization of Arkansas 7 

Sale of Louisiana and organization of Arkansas 7 

Growth of Arkansas population, 1820-1910 8 

Sources of this English-speaking population and its feeling toward educa- 
tion 9 

Chapter II. — Private schools prior to the Civil War 11 

Indian schools n 

Private schools and academies 12 

Batesville Academy 15 

General character of the charters, 1836-1861 16 

Schools chartered, 1838-1861 17 

Tendencies seen in these charters 21 

Chapter III.— The public-school system and the State land funds, 1827-1861, . 24 

The seminary and saline funds 25 

Message of Gov. Conway in 1837 26 

Laws of December 17, 1838, and December 28, 1840 26 

Address of Gov. Yell on industrial training 27 

Law of December 23, 1846, and fortunes of the seminary fund 27 

Law of 1849 transfers the seminary lands to the public schools 28 

The sixteenth section fund 29 

Origin of this fund 29 

Constitution of 1836 39 

Theactof 1843 ™!-"!"" 31 

State textbooks, 1843 34 

The law of 1849 "" 36 

The law of 1851 36 

The law of 1853 38 

A State school commissioner appointed 38 

Working of the school law of 1853 40 

Reports on public schools, 1854-1861 41 

Chapter I V.— The Murphy administration, 1864-1868 47 

The Federal conquest of Arkansas 47 

The constitution of 1864 47 

Isaac Murphy chosen governor 47 

His message to the Union assembly of 1864 48 

Assembly of 1866-67 levies a State tax 48 

Earle made State superintendent 49 

Chapter V.— The reconstruction regime, 1868-1874 51 

The constitution of 1868 51 

The school law of July 23,1868 53 

Thomas Smith becomes superintendent and organizes the schools 54 

J. C. Corbin becomes superintendent 56 

Political turmoil and reasons for failure of the school system 56 

3 



4 CONTENTS. 

Page. 

Chapter VI. — The restoration of home rule, 1874-1894 59 

The constitution of 1874 59 

The interregnum, 1874-75 60 

The law of December 7, 1875 60 

The administration of Geo. W. Hill, 1875-1878 62 

The administrations of James L. Denton and Dunbar H. Pope, 1878-1882. 67 

The administration of Woodville E. Thompson, 1882-1890 69 

The administration of Josiah H. Shinn, 1890-1894 70 

Chapter VIL— The present era, 1894-1912 74 

The administrations of Junius Jordan and J. W. Kuykendall, 1894-1898. 74 

The administration of J. J. Doyne, 1898-1902 75 

The administration of J. H. Hinemon, 1902-1906, and J. J. Doyne, 1906- 

1908. 76 

The administration of George B. Cook, 1908 to date 80 

Public high schools 83 

Chapter VIII. — The organization of city school systems 88 

The act of February 4, 1869 88 

Little Kock 89 

Fort Smith 91 

Hot Springs 92 

Other systems 92 

Chapter IX. — The origin and history of the permanent school fund 93 

The sixteenth section fund 93 

The seminary fund 97 

The saline fund 101 

The permanent school fund 103 

State scrip burned 107 

Chapter X — Miscellaneous matters 109 

I. Auxiliary educational agencies 109 

The Arkansas Teachers' Association 109 

The educational press of Arkansas 109 

School improvement associations Ill 

Teachers' reading circle 112 

Southern education board ...'.. 112 

The education commission 112 

The State board of education 113 

Arkansas library association 114 

II. The negro schools 115 

III. Keview and aspirations 118 

Public-school statistics, 1868-1912 122 

I. School population, teachers, property, and school year 122 

II. Enrollment and attendance 123 

III. School revenues 124 

IV. School expenditures 125 

V. Assessed valuation of property 126 

VI. Apportionment of common-school fund, 1912 126 

Bibliography of public-school education in Arkansas 127 

Index 129 



LETTEE OF TEANSMITTAL. 



Department of the Interior, 

Bureau of Education, 
Washington, D. C, July 26, 1912. 

Sir : In most States of the Union campaigns more or less system- 
atic have been conducted within the last few years for the improvement 
and more adequate support of the public schools. The campaigns 
in the Southern States have been remarkable for their intensity 
and continuity, as well as for the comprehensiveness of their pur- 
pose and the importance of their results. In these campaigns the 
appeal must always be to the people and to their representatives in 
legislatures and county and city tax-levying bodies. Both the people 
and their representatives must be convinced that the legislation 
asked for will be for the public good, and that the objects for which 
appropriations are to be made and taxes levied and collected are 
worthy. Above all must it be shown that they are in keeping with 
the spirit of the best development in the State and community, and 
such as would meet the approval of those statesmen and other public 
men who have determined the policy of the State, and to whom the 
people are accustomed to look for guidance in civic matters. I have 
been more or less directly connected with these campaigns in several 
States and have frequently felt the need of some brief, clear, and 
comprehensive account of the origin and growth of the public-school 
systems of those States and of definite knowledge of the attitude of 
the leaders and representatives of the people toward the questions of 
public education. Many others have felt the same need. But the 
history of public education in these States has never been written in 
this way. I have therefore arranged for a series of studies in the 
history of public education in several States, to be published by 
the Bureau of Education for distribution in the States to which they 
refer. The first use of these publications will be as handbooks in 
these campaigns. I believe they will also have much value for stu- 
dents of education when the time comes — as it must soon come — for 
writing the history of education in this country in a more formal and 
comprehensive way. 

The accompanying manuscript relating to education in the State 
of Arkansas is the first of this series. I recommend that it be pub- 
lished as a bulletin of this bureau. 

Very respectfully, P. P. Claxton, 

Commissioner. 

The Secretary of the Interior. 

5 



HISTORY OF PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN 

ARKANSAS. 



CHAPTER I. 
THE AMERICANIZATION OF ARKANSAS. 

The territory now embraced within the State of Arkansas was 
discovered and explored by the Spaniards under De Soto, and was 
settled by the French under La Salle and De Tonti. It formed a 
part of French Louisiana and came to the United States with the 
transfer of December 20, 1803. Under the act of Congress of March 
26, 1804, the present State of Arkansas was made a part of the Dis- 
trict of Louisiana, which was usually and popularly styled Upper 
Louisiana. Under the congressional act of March 3, 1805, the 
District of Louisiana was erected into the Territory of Louisiana, 
the country now included in the State of Arkansas being embraced, 
along with the southern part of Missouri, in the District of New 
Madrid. On June 27, 1806, the District of Arkansas was erected 
under authority of an act of the Legislature of the Territory of 
Louisiana. At that time practically the only settlements within 
the bounds of Arkansas were those at Arkansas Post and Camp 
Esperance, but by 1819 the population had so increased that the 
Federal Government found it desirable to organize the District of 
Arkansas as a Territory (Mar. 2, 1819). The bounds of the new 
Territory were 33° on the south, 36° 30' on the north, and the 
Mississippi River on the east. On the west it extended indefinitely 
to the Mexican possessions, a distance of at least 550 miles. The 
Post of Arkansas was fixed as the seat of administration, while the 
population, nearly 14,000 in number, was located mainly on the 
tributaries of the White and St. Francis Rivers, on the Mississippi 
River between New Madrid and Point Chicot, and up both sides. of 
the Arkansas for 100 miles above Arkansas Post. 

It is relevant to trace very briefly the growth of population in the 
new Territory and to find as far as possible the sources from which 
the early population came. If these sources can be discovered, 
beyond question a most valuable key to the sentiments of the people 

Note.— The author of this study desires to express his thanks to Messrs. Josiah H. Shinn, George B . Cook, 
B. W. Torreyson, John H. Reynolds, and D. Y. Thomas, all of Arkansas, who read this paper while in 
manuscript and made valued suggestions. 

7 



s 



HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ARKANSAS. 



toward the general subject of education will have been obtained. 
The population of Arkansas since 1722, the per cent of increase by 
decades, and the population per square mile are given in the following 
table: 

Statistical view of Arkansas population, 1722-1910. 



Year. 


White. 


Colored. 


Total. 


Per cent of 
increase 

since last 
census. 


Population 

per square 

mile. 


1 722 


122 

88 

176 

368 

1,062 

2 12,579 

25,671 

58,134 

77,174 

162, 189 

324, 143 

362,115 

591,531 

818,752 

944, 580 

1,131,030 










1766 










1785 










1799 










1810 . 










1820.. 


1,676 

4,717 

9,630 

20,400 

47,708 

111,259 

122, 169 

210,666 

309, 117 

4 366,856 

4 442,891 


14, 255 

30,388 

67,764 

97,574 

209,897 

435,402 

484,284 

802, 197 

1, 127. 869 

1,311,436 

1,573,921 






1830. . 


113.1 

123.0 

3 221. 1 

115.1 

107.5 

11.3 

65.6 

40.6 

16.3 

20.0 


0.3 


1835 


.6 


1840 


1.8 


1850 


4.0 


1860 


8 2 


1870 


9.1 


1880 


15 1 


1890 


21*5 


1900 ' 


25.0 


1910 


30.0 







* On Law's grant. 

2 Population statistics from United States census, except 1835, which is from State census of 1834-35. 

3 Represents per cent of increase between 1830 and 1840. 

4 Omits a few Chinese, Japanese, and Indians. 

The State lies between 33° and 36° 30' latitude — lines embraced 
in general on the Atlantic coast by the territory between Charleston, 
S. C, and the southern boundary of Virginia. As is well known, the 
American pioneer has, as a rule, emigrated along lines of latitude. 
The Mississippi Kiver was the route by which the earliest settlers 
came into Arkansas, either from New Orleans or down the river from 
St. Louis and the settlements farther north and east. Many came 
by boat from southern Indiana and Ohio and from river points in 
Kentucky and Tennessee, but with the development of the older 
States of the Middle West and the building of the great National 
Road the methods of immigration changed. The horse became the 
motive power and the covered wagon superseded the flatboat; so 
that a large majority of the immigrants who entered Arkansas be- 
tween 1815 and 1830 came overland on horseback or in wagons, 
entering the Territory from Missouri at Davidsonville in old Lawrence 
County. In 1820 their line had extended through Batesville to Cadron 
in Pulaski County, and in 1821 down to Red River through Clark 
and Hempstead Counties. " Far-away Hempstead," says Shinn, 
then "had more than one-seventh of the population, and although for 
the most part from Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, and Kentucky, 
they came in from Missouri in wagons guided by the National Road." 4 

Prof. Shinn is also authority for the further statement that the 
English-speaking population who entered Arkansas before 1820 was 

i See Shinn's Pioneers and Makers of Arkansas, 102 et seq.' 



THE AMEBIC ANIMATION OF AEKANSAS. 



largely cosmopolitan in character; that for the decades between 1820 
and 1840 immigrants from Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana were domi- 
nant, with the Kentuckians in the lead. 

The main sources of this population are given by States in the census 
reports for 1850-1900, and are as follows: 

Statistical view of the sources of Arkansas population, 1850-1900. 



Natives of- 



1850 


1860 


1870 


1880 


1890 


33, 807 


66, 609 


66,561 


87,593 


95,941 


11,250 


24,433 


28,317 


39,013 


43, 265 


4,463 


16,351 


22, 086 


35,248 


51, 510 


5,328 


8,638 


16, 838 


29,508 


38,011 


6,367 


18,031 


25, 232 


36, 715 


37, 726 


8,772 


17, 747 


18, 480 


19, 727 


24, 641 


7,428 


11,083 


13,669 


18,039 


22, 703 


4,587 


10,704 


13,805 


15, 107 


21, 125 


3,276 


3,899 


5,877 


12, 238 


20. 540 


4,737 


6,484 


11,851 


13,272 


11,950 


336 


1,565 


6,617 


10, 860 


14,622 


1,096 


2,313 


4,909 


9,649 


12,416 


2,128 


2,504 


2,954 


8,528 


13,615 


1,051 


1,513 


2,199 


5,254 


9,254 



1900 



Tennessee 

Alabama 

Mississippi 

Missouri 

Georgia 

North Carolina 

Kentucky 

South Carolina 

Illinois 

Virginia 

Texas 

Louisiana 

Indiana 

Ohio 



84,644 
39,938 
54, 986 
45,319 
32,902 
20,037 
20,641 
17,230 
23,205 

8.745 
19. 496 
19, 844 
13,932 

8,867 



Tennessee during the whole period between 1850 and 1900 stands 
at the head of the list of States contributing to Arkansas population; 
Alabama stands second in 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880, and third in 
1890 and 1900; North Carolina is third in 1850, fourth in 1860 and 
1870, and sixth in 1880 and 1890; Georgia is fifth in 1850, 1880, and 
1900, third in 1860, 1870, and 1880; Missouri is sixth in 1850 and 
1870, fifth in 1880, fourth in 1890, and third in 1900; Mississippi is 
ninth in 1850, fifth in 1860, fourth in 1870 and 1880, and second in 
1890 and 1900. 

From this we may conclude that in order of importance the sources 
of population for Arkansas have been Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, 
Missouri, Georgia, North Carolina, and we may safely assume that 
many of those who were born in the younger States named above 
were themselves the children of parents who had removed from 
North Carolina and Georgia. 

These conclusions as to the sources of this population show its 
essential homogeneity and its feeling toward the subject of education 
in general, for it furnishes us a speculative key with which we may 
find entrance to the characteristic feelings of the settlers. It was 
but natural for them to carry to their new homes the ideals, educa- 
tional and other, which they had imbibed in their old homes, and if 
we know the sections from which they migrated to Arkansas we can 
not be far wrong in the interpretation we may put on their early 
efforts for educational development. 

These figures also justify the earlier statement that the lines of 
migration westward have been in the main along those of latitude. 
A glance at the maps in the Census Report of 1880, illustrating this 



10 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ARKANSAS. 

phase of migration, will establish the accuracy of this statement 
beyond question. 

Going beyond State lines, we can see from a study of the sources 
of Arkansas population that it was distinctively southern. Of the 
10 States contributing most, 9 were southern at each census period. 
The only western State that comes within the ranks of the first 10 
at any time is Illinois in 1850, 1860, and 1890. 

It is safe to assume, then, that the conditions confronting educa- 
tion in the new Territory and the sentiments and training brought 
to the solution of its problems by the settlers were not essentially 
different from those which prevailed in the first half of the nineteenth 
century in the older States of Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, 
Missouri, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia. 

It will be noted that these were all slave States, and that their 
education was of the private and academic type which obtained in 
England; was transplanted to the United States and transferred to 
the South, especially to North Carolina, in the second half of the 
eighteenth century by that brilliant array of educational missionaries 
sent out by the College of New Jersey. 



CHAPTER II. 
PRIVATE SCHOOLS PRIOR TO THE CIVIL WAR. 

INDIAN SCHOOLS. 

The first schools in Arkansas were church schools under the direc- 
tion of the Jesuits, who, during the French and Spanish regimes, 
made some effort at instruction of the Indians in things temporal as 
well as spiritual. 

In the same way one of the earliest educational efforts after the 
beginning of the American domination was made in behalf of the 
Arkansas Cherokees by Kev. Cephas Washburn, a Congregational 
minister from New England, who, on January 1, 1822, opened a 
school for Cherokee Indians at old Dwight, near Russellville in Pope 
County. This school was an outgrowth of the school which had 
been established at Brainerd in the Cherokee Nation, on the east of 
the Mississippi. Mr. Washburn had come out under the auspices of 
the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, and as 
such had visited the Cherokees in Georgia in 1818. He first visited 
those of Arkansas in 1819; he removed into the Territory, encounter- 
ing on his trip untold hardships, in 1820-21, and because "the solici- 
tation of the Cherokees was so urgent" made arrangements for a 
boarding school in the summer of 1821. This was opened January 1, 
1822, with 15 pupils, a number which was soon increased to 50. 
From that time until 1840 Mr. Washburn continued to preach and 
to teach among the Cherokees. The first part of his work was con- 
ducted at Dwight, where many white pupils were also taught along 
with the Indians, and after the removal of the Cherokees to the 
Territory it was continued at the mission established on the Sallisaw, 
a tributary of the Arkansas. Here there were two boarding schools, 
one for boys and one for girls, to which some 75 pupils were attached. 

The school at Dwight was something more than an institution for 
instruction in the three It's. The principles of modern industrial 
training were introduced. Once when a hostile chief sent a challenge 
for 20 of the school boys to meet 20 who were unschooled, for a dis- 
play of skill in the green-corn dance, the challenge was accepted, but 
the teacher proposed to change the weapons from nimbleness of limb 
to skill in use of the hoe and the spelling book. The boys were 
taught the elements of agriculture, the girls needlework and domestic 

11 



12 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ARKANSAS. 

science, and all were instructed in habits of industry, neatness, and 
order. In this school as many as seven teachers were employed. The 
school in the Indian Territory was almost self-supporting, "for bread 
and meat were raised on the school farm and the other school expenses 
did not exceed $1,000." 

Washburn left the Cherokee work in 1840. By his sound judg- 
ment, tireless perseverance, and his practical wisdom, he had brought 
the nation far on the road toward education and Christian civiliza- 
tion, and now felt it his duty to minister in like manner to the whites. 
The next 20 years were devoted to mission work and to teaching in 
Arkansas, often on the frontiers and frequently under trying diffi- 
culties. In modesty, unaffected humility, and thorough devotion to 
duty no finer example of heroism can be offered by the State than 
Cephas Washburn, missionary and teacher for more than 40 years 
(1818-1860). 1 

PRIVATE SCHOOLS AND ACADEMIES. 

The earliest settlers in Arkansas were by no means without educa- 
tional facilities. School-teachers began their work almost with the 
first American settlements. Records of these schools are meager, 
but enough memorials have been left to show their existence. They 
were usually called "academies," but as a matter of fact they were 
primary and secondary schools combined, and perhaps in a majority 
of cases were more primary than secondary. It was from such 
schools as these that the primary schools of a later date, the real 
academies and other higher institutions, were evolved. 

Caleb Lindsey began work as a teacher in old Lawrence County in 
1816; John Calloway taught in Clark County; Moses Eastburn began 
teaching in 1821 and continued for 60 years. Judge Daniel Witter 
taught in Hempstead County in 1822. In 1825 Jesse Brown founded 
the Little Rock Academy. In his advertisement in the Arkansas 
Gazette for March 7, 1826, he says: " Jesse Brown, principal of the 
Little Rock Academy, returns thanks for patronage during the past 
year and solicits its continuance." His terms for spelling, reading, 
writing, and arithmetic were $24 per annum. These branches, with 
geography, grammar, elocution, history, chronology, bookkeeping, 
and ''Italian method," were taught for $36. Subscriptions less than 
a year were $1 per month extra. French was also offered. C. W. 
Graham was Brown's assistant. 

Brown's school was doubtless responsible for the book advertise- 
ment which appeared on November 8, 1826, in which there is offered 
a "new supply of school books," including Cumming's Geography 
and Atlas, Pickett's Juvenile Expositor, Murray's Grammar, his 

1 See Washburn's reminiscences of the Indians in his Biography by J. W. Moore, Richmond, 1869. 



PEIVATE SCHOOLS PEIOE TO THE CIVIL WAE. 13 

Exercise and Introduction, Webster's Spelling Book, Walker's School 
Dictionary, pocket Bibles, slates, pencils, ink, letter paper, etc. 

At the same time (Nov. 14, 1826) William E. Woodruff, editor 
of the Gazette, advertises a circulating library of about 150 vol- 
umes, consisting mostly of "plays and novels, with a few miscel- 
laneous works of merit," which he proposed loaning "at the ordinary 
library prices." If this experiment succeeded he promised to open 
"a circulating library," which would include all the popular works 
and some periodicals. Prices were 12J cents per week for duodecimos 
and octavos; the borrower was expected "to use them carefully" 
and to retain them "no longer than may be necessary to read them 
through." But this literary venture was presumably premature, 
for the advertisement had disappeared on December 12, and even 
Mr. Brown found it necessary the next January to inform his patrons 
who were in arrears "for schooling, or otherwise, that he can not live 
upon the wind." 

In the Arkansas Advocate for 1830 H. M. Wiener advertises his 
school, which was located on the main road from Little Rock to 
Batesville. The terms were $12 per year or $1.25 per month. On 
July 4 of that year an "Address on education" had been delivered 
by a "native youth" before an audience in Pope County. 

Thomas B. Malone, who had been teaching for 21 years, offers 
instruction in 1831 for both sexes: In the male department, spelling, 
reading, writing, and arithmetic, English grammar, rhetoric, elocu- 
tion, geometry, natural and moral philosophy, and theoretic chem- 
istry, Latin and Greek; in the female department, under direction 
of Mrs. Malone, reading, writing, arithmetic, English grammar, 
geography, history, natural philosophy, drawing, and painting. 

Various school advertisements appear in the Times, of Little Rock, 
in 1835 and 1836. In July, 1835, Mr. and Mrs. Mecklin announce 
that their school is to be removed to Washington County. In 
February, 1836, A. M. Scott announced a school as opened in the 
Baptist Church in Little Rock. He offered the sciences, an English 
education, and the Latin tongue. In May of the same year Spring 
Hill Female Academy advertises the arrival of Miss Elizabeth Pratt, 
of New York. 

But perhaps the most ambitious of these announcements is that 
of the Little Rock Academy, u a primary and academical school." 
In 1836 P. Wright was conducting this school in the old State House, 
where he was ready to teach spelling, reading, etc., up to chemistry, 
botany, astronomy, trigonometry, and mental philosophy, together 
with Latin, Greek, and French. Mr. Wright is careful to say that 
his school was a place where — 

the plan of instruction will be such as to impart a thoroughly practical knowledge 
of the studies introduced; to promote habits of thought, reflection, and proper self- 



14 HISTOEY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ABKANSAS. 

dependence; and instead of making the mind of the pupil a lumber room, stored, 
without order or harmony, with a mere smattering of all subjects, to improve its powers. 

These advertisements do not cover all the private schools, but 
they show that there were schools in the Territory for years before 
any applied to the Government for incorporation. Leaving out of 
consideration for the present the public schools, we find that from 
this time to the outbreak of the Civil War there was a long line of 
private schools which supplied, so far as they were able, the scholastic 
needs of the communities in which they were located. These were 
private or " entered" schools and charged tuition fees. Although 
approved and encouraged by the State, they had at first no official 
connection with it; they sought to cater to the wants and needs of 
that class of the population who could afford to send their children 
to school and pay for it. The number of these schools increased so 
largely that the Times, of Little Rock, was led to seek their raison 
d'etre. It says editorially, on May 16, 1835: 

Disguise it as we may, the education of the rising generation is at the very bottom 
of the wheel * * * a state of indifference to the vital interest. * * * What 
has been the great moving spring in building the many institutions * * * has 
been sectarian pride and prejudice. 1 

Such schools and academies as the above were no doubt the more 
pretentious. There was, however, another class which were more 
local in their appeal, more modest in their claims, and of which less 
is known, but which were, nevertheless, the centers of educational 
life and inspiration for large numbers of the native population of 
the first generation. They were popularly known as " forest schools" 
— so called, perhaps, from their usual location on the borders of the 
unbroken wilderness — but which in some of the older States were 
called "old field schools." 

Prof. Shinn quotes from Frederick Gerstaecker, a German trav- 
eler, a description of one of these forest schools which in 1841 was 
conducted between Perry ville and Danville : 

We passed a school as we went along — one of the usual log houses, but with a plank 
inserted between two of the logs to serve for a desk. The more distant scholars come 
on horseback and tie their horses to the fence during school hours. Of course they 
bring their dinners with them. These forest schools seldom pretend to teach more 
than reading, writing, and arithmetic; if they attempt geography, it is confined to 
that of the United States. It was just noon as we passed; at this hour master and 
scholars make it a rule to play at ball, so that they may return with greater zeal to 
their spelling. 

Prof. Shinn gives also a specimen contract for a "forest school." 

This article, entered into on this the 27th day of December, 1847, between Josiah 
C. Shinn, of the county of Pope and State of Arkansas, of the first part, and we the 
undersigners, of the county and State aforesaid, witnesseth: The said Shinn doth 

1 Says Prof. Shinn: "The hundreds of old field and forest schools were not the church academies, and the 
fewest number of academies were church schools." 



PBIVATE SCHOOLS PKIOE TO THE CIVIL WAE. 15 

bind himself to teach a school in the new schoolhouse on the land of B. D. R. Shinn 
for the term of three months, Saturdays and Sundays excepted, and during said 
term to instruct all pupils committed to his charge in all branches usually taught in 
common English schools to the best of his ability. Strict rules of morality are to be 
enforced during school hours and while the pupils are under the care of the teacher. 
And we the undersigners do bind ourselves to pay said Shinn for his services $3 for 
each scholar we subscribe, and what the said Shinn needs for his family we will de- 
liver at his residence, or at the house of B. D. R. Shinn. When produce is taken, 
it is to be at the price for which a like article can be procured for the cash. Many 
articles will be needed during the school for the use of the family, such as meal, flour, 
pork, beef, sugar, and coffee. School to begin on the 3d day of January, 1848. 

In the meantime, as the population grew and the schools devel- 
oped, the more advanced and better organized ones were duly incor- 
porated according to law, and had among their trustees some of the 
ablest men in the State, including the best lawyers and preachers. 

The first incorporated institution of learning in the State was the 
Batesville Academy, at Batesville, in Independence County. It 
was chartered under date of September 26, 1836. The provisions 
in this charter of general interest are: 

1. The establishment, "as soon as the funds will admit," of an 
institution for the education of females. 

2. The trustees were required "to cause the children of poor people 
in said county to be instructed gratis.' ' 

3. They were directed also "to educate all the students gratis 
* * * in all or any of the branches of education which they may 
require, whenever the funds of the institution shall in the opinion 
of the trustees permit these or either of these arrangements." 

4. The law took opportunity also to emphasize freedom of religious 
belief, for "no preference shall be given, nor any discrimination made, 
in the choice of trustees, professors, teachers, or students on account 
of religious sentiment"; nor might the school authorities "at any 
time make by-laws, ordinances, or regulations that may in any wise 
interfere with or in any manner control the right of conscience or 
the free expression or exercise of religious worship." 

This act marks clearly four characteristics of education in Arkansas 
at that time: f 

1. The sexes were educated separately. 

2. The schools were not "free" in our sense, inasmuch as the poor 
were to be educated free, not for the protection of the State, but as 
a favor. 

3. The ideal was that of a school rendered free by endowment, not 
by public taxes. 

4. There was freedom of religious belief. 

It can not be said that in any one of these four characteristics did 
the charter of Batesville Academy go beyond the prevailing theories 
of its day. It was merely the exponent of contemporary tendencies. 



16 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ARKANSAS. 

Its leaders were not the prophets of coming educational freedom and 
showed no signs of educational leadership. 

The Fayetteville Female Academy was the second institution 
incorporated, receiving its charter on October 26, 1836. As its name 
indicates, this institution was for women. It was incorporated before 
the town of Fayetteville had a legal existence and helped to create 
an atmosphere which before the war made Fayetteville an educational 
center. 

From 1836 to 1861 the fashion for private academies was so accen- 
tuated that a number were chartered at nearly every recurring session 
of the legislature. The acts of incorporation are of the same type and 
reproduce in general the characteristics already noted under the 
Batesville Academy: 

A self-perpetuating board, made up of the more prominent citi- 
zens of the county, section, or State, as the case might be, was created; 
this board had all the powers of an educational nature of a body 
corporate; it controlled absolutely all funds the institution might 
acquire; it elected and dismissed its teachers; it was usually charged 
to provide a similar institution for girls as soon as funds would per- 
mit; to educate the poor without charge, not as a right but as a favor; 
to make all tuition free when the proceeds from private endowments 
would allow; and to make no discrimination on account of religious 
beliefs. 

This was the general character of the charters given in the thirties 
and forties; in the fifties they had broadened somewhat, perhaps 
owing to the knowledge that comes from experience. It then became 
general to charter the institutions for some definite length of time, 
usually 99 years; the provisions in regard to religion were left out, 
being perhaps by that time thoroughly fixed in State consciousness; 
their powers were broadened, a number, both male and female, being 
empowered to grant degrees, even "the degree of Doctor in the 
learned arts and sciences and belles letters"; they were specifically 
exempted from taxation, and it was provided that no mere misnomer 
should prevent an institution from receiving gifts that had been 
really intended for it; a limit was put on the amount of endowment 
they might hold, the maximum being about $250,000, besides build- 
ings, library, and apparatus; the acts of incorporation were declared 
to be public acts. Generally it was declared that all property should 
be held and administered for educational purposes, not as a source of 
private gain, although in a very few cases private joint-stock com- 
panies were created. In many cases the institutions were protected 
from the sale of liquors in their vicinity, and this protection was even 
extended to institutions that were not formally incorporated. 

In the following pages is given a list of the institutions chartered 
bef e 1861 with remarks on any noteworthy characteristics. 



PKIVATE SCHOOLS PRIOR TO THE CIVIL WAR. 17 

Chartered in 1838: 

Lewisburg Academy, Lewisburg. 
Little Rock Academy, Pulaski County. 
Chicot Academy. 
Napoleon Public School. 
The name of the last-mentioned institution is suggestive of modern 
life. It is recited in the act that the building for its occupancy had 
been already erected and it has been said that it was " doubtless the 
first public school building in the State." The charter excluded from 
the school the promulgators of abolition and Mormonism, but beyond 
this prohibition there is nothing to differentiate this academy from 
others. It was not a public school in any modern sense, either in 
operation or theory. It was a private institution of the orthodox 
type. The charter was amended at the legislative session of 1842-43. 
Chicot Academy, however, looks toward the modern idea and comes 
near being a public school, since the trustees were authorized to sell 
(i. e , lease for 99 years, renewable forever) the sixteenth sections, and 
whenever the interest on the money received should amount to 
$2,000 to apply it to educational purposes. A further indication of a 
modern trend is the demand that English be required as a study. 
This seems to have been the first academy in the State to grasp the 
public-school idea. 
Chartered in 1840: 

Rocky Comfort Academy, Sevier County, then already in 

operation. 
Pocahontas Academy, Pocahontas. 
Chartered in 1842-43: 

Bethesda Academy, Washington County. 
Lafayette Academy, Lewisville. 
Benton Academy, Saline County. 
The last-named institution was authorized to establish a depart- 
ment of agriculture, but since no children were to be required to study 
or labor in that department contrary to the wishes of parents and 
guardians, we may safely assume that it was of the manual-labor 
type prominent at that day — probably an echo of Fellenberg's system. 
Chartered in 1 844-45 : 

Far West Seminary, Washington County. 
Spring Hill Male Academy, Hempstead County. 
Spring Hill Female Academy, Hempstead County. 
Fort Smith Academy, Crawford (now Sebastian) County. 
The Fort Smith school had been in existence since 1840 or earlier; 
its term was 11 months. 
53733°— 12 2 



18 HISTOKY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN AKKANSAS. 

The two Spring Hill schools although separate and distinct had the 
same incorporators, and the acts of incorporation are identical. The 
institutions were educational twins, as it were. 

Rev. Cephas Washburn, of Cherokee fame, was one of the incor- 
porators of Far West Seminary. Its buildings were already erected 
and work was in progress. It was to have a manual-labor system, 
to lessen expense and promote health. A bid on its part for general 
patronage is indicated by choosing one of the trustees from the Chero- 
kee Nation, another from Missouri, and a third from the southwestern 
corner of the State. The Bible was declared the standard in religion 
and morals, and the institution was made nonsectarian and non- 
partisan. It had received in 1843 lands from private individuals 
as a part of its endowment. The most important phase of its con- 
stitution was expressed in the following section in its charter, which 
would seem to indicate that the trustees of Far West had begun to 
realize that something more than a mere acquiring was necessary 
in education: 

5th. In addition to the ordinary degrees of academical attainments, an honorary 
premium shall be conferred on such students as, in addition to the ordinary branches, 
shall have attended scientifically to agriculture and the mechanic arts, and shall 
have acquired a practical skill in agriculture or some one branch of mechanics. 

It is very unfortunate that no history of this interesting experiment 
has come down to us. 
Chartered in 1846: 

Washington Male and Female Seminary, of Hempstead County, 
a Methodist school. 
Chartered in 1848: 

Clarksville Institute, Clarksville, Johnson County. 
Princeton Male and Female Academy. 
College of St. Andrew, at Fort Smith. 
Clarksville Institute was intended for the education of the blind. 
The act of incorporation contains a provision by which the institute 
might become personal property. In January, 1851, the legislature 
placed the deaf and dumb under its control, appropriated $1,000 for 
its support, and required an annual report. 

The College of St. Andrew was a Roman Catholic institution. Its 
proposed charter precipitated a fight in the legislature, the majority 
of the committee reporting against its incorporation on the ground 
that it was a sectarian institution dominated by a bishop who owned 
no allegiance to American institutions, and on the additional ground 
that it asked for a charter in perpetuity. The proposed charter was 
amended and then became a law. Owing to fire the college never 
materialized, but a church school was conducted here until 1858. 



PEIVATE SCHOOLS PEIOE TO THE CIVIL WAE. 19 

Chartered in 1850-51: 

Tulip Female Collegiate Assembly, Dallas County. 

Arkansas Military Institute, Tulip, Dallas County. 

Cane Hill Collegiate Institute, Booneboro, Washington County. 

Soulesbury College, Batesville. 

Eldorado Female Academy, Union County. 

Fountain Hill Male and Female Academy, Ashley County. 
Cane Hill was under the control of the Presbyterians. By an act 
of 1852-53 its name was changed to Cane Hill College and it was 
given power to confer degrees. Soulesbury College was under the 
control of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Its name was 
changed in 1852 from college to institute. The two institutions at 
Tulip were complementary and covered the whole field, while keeping 
the two sexes apart. 
Chartered in 1852-53: 

Oil Trough Academy, Independence County. 

Cane Hill Female Seminary, Booneboro, Washington County. 
It was first chartered in 1850. 

Mine Creek Male and Female College, Hempstead County. 

Boston Male and Female Academy, Franklin County. 

Mackemic College. 

Batesville Institute. 

Lacy Male and Female Academy, Lacy, Drew County. 

Male Academy, Monticello, Drew County. 

Female Academy, Monticello, Drew County. 

Arkansas College, Fayetteville, Washington County. 
Oil Trough and Mine Hill were coeducational. Mackemic College 
was a Presbyterian institution. Although the name appears in the 
charter as Makemic it was probably named for Francis Makemie. 
Arkansas College had power "to constitute and confer the degree of 
doctor in the learned arts and sciences and 'belles-lettres/ and to 
confer such other academical degrees as are usually conferred by the 
most learned universities.' ' Batesville Institute was "an institution 
for the promotion of the fine arts, mechanism, science, education, 
commerce, and agriculture, and the diffusion of knowledge. " This 
was to be accomplished by establishing a college, a circulating library, 
etc. It seems to have been a private joint-stock company. 
Chartered in 1854-55: 

Perkins Institute, Smithville, Lawrence County. Its charter 
was revived in 1861. 

Crawford Institute, Van Buren. 

Batesville Male and Female Academy. 

Huntsville Masonic Institute, Huntsville. 

Princeton Male Academy, Dallas County. 

Princeton Female Academy, Dallas County. 



20 HISTOEY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN AKKANSAS. 

Pleasant View Female Academy, Huntsville, Madison County. 

Clarksville Female Seminary, Clarksville, Johnson County. 

Bluff Spring Male and Female Academy, Marion County. 
The two Princeton academies were entirely distinct bodies with 
entirely different boards. The Clarksville and Huntsville schools 
might confer degrees. Crawford Institute belonged to the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, South, and might confer ' ' the degree of doctor 
in the learned arts and sciences, and belles-lettres." Its name was 
changed to Wallace Institute in 1857. 
Chartered in 1856-57: 

Spring Hill Academy. 

Ouachita Conference Female College, Camden. 

Dardanelle Female Institute, successor to Dardanelle Female 
Seminary. 

Mount Holly Academy, Union County. 

Chicot Male and Female Academy, Chicot County. 
Ouachita College, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, had 
power to confer "degrees in the arts and sciences." It was trans- 
ferred to Tulip, Dallas County, in 1860. 
Chartered in 1858-59: 

St. Charles Academy, Arkansas County. 

Searcy Polytechnic School, White County. 

Warren Male and Female Seminary, Bradley County. 

Hampton Male and Female Academies, Calhoun County (con- 
solidated in 1860). 

Magnolia Female Institute (charter repealed 1861). 

Fayetteville Female Institute, Washington County. 

Fayetteville Female Seminary, Washington County. 

Atlanta Male and Female Academy, Union County. 

Van Buren Female Institute, Van Buren. 

Ewing Institute, Johnson County. 

Jefferson Female College, Pine Bluff. 

Dardanelle Female Institute, Yell County. 

Female Academy of St. Catherine, Helena. 

Chambers ville Male and Female Academy, Calhoun County. 

Crooked Creek Male Academy, Marion County. 

Arkansas Institute for the Blind. 

Mountain House Male and Female Academy, Marion County. 

Phi Kappa Sigma (0KZ) Male College, Monticello, Drew County. 

White Sulphur Spring Female High School, Jefferson County. 
The Academy of St. Catherine was a Catholic institution. The 
act of incorporation of Fayetteville Female Seminary recites that it 
had been founded in 1839. Warren Seminary was a joint-stock 
company, conducted for gain. In 1861 the Arkansas Institute for 
the Blind was given State funds per year up to $4,000. The name 



PRIVATE SCHOOLS PRIOR TO THE CIVIL WAR. 21 

of the Searcy Polytechnic Institute arouses the hope that a new 
master had arisen in this educational Israel, but it proves to be an 
academy of the orthodox type. The only new feature is that of 
military instruction. 
Chartered in 1860-61: 

Franklin Male Institute, Ozark, Franklin County. 

Arkansas Synodical College, Arkadelphia. 

Ouachita Conference Female College, Tulip. 

Pocahontas, Randolph County, and Gainesville, Greene County, 
Male and Female Colleges. 

Sisters of Mercy of the Female Academies of Helena, of Little 
Rock, and of Fort Smith (3 separate schools) . 

Maryville Male and Female Academy, Columbia County. 

Brownsville Male Academy. 

Arkadelphia Female College, Methodist, Sevier County. 

Richmond Male and Female Academy, Sevier County. 

Poinsett Male and Female Academy, Poinsett County. 

Spring Hill Male and Female Seminary, Hempstead County. 

Hickory Plain Male and Female Institute. 

Pleasant Ridge Academy, Bradley County. 

Northwestern Arkansas Baptist Female Institute, Fayetteville, 
Washington County. 

Hillsboro Male and Female Academy, Union County. 

Benton Male and Female College. 

Three Creeks Female Institute, Union County (mentioned as if 

already established). 

Pocahontas and Gainesville Colleges, although entirely separate 

and distinct and with separate boards, were created by the same act. 

In 1861, St. John's College, of Little Rock, received the geological 

and mineralogical specimens and the miscellaneous books which had 

been on deposit in the office of the secretary of state. Various other 

institutions are also named in the law as receiving some particular 

mark of favor from the State, such as remission of taxes or protection 

against liquor selling, although they had received no formal charter. 

It is therefore certain that not all the educational institutions received 

charters from the State. 

TENDENCIES OF THE CHARTERS. 

Four tendencies may be discovered in a study of these charters : 

1. The schools were clustered about particular centers rather than 
distributed over the State as a whole; e. g., Batesville, 1836, 1853, 
1854; Cane Hill, 1850, 1852; Princeton, 1849, two in 1855; Chicot, 
1838, 1857; Fayetteville, 1836, 1858, 1859 (all female seminaries). 

2. Male academies are soon followed by female academies in the 
same town; later the tendency to unite the two into one appears. 



22 HISTOKY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION" IN" AKKANSAS. 

3. There is a tendency to call these institutions colleges, instead 
of schools, academies, or institutes, to grant degrees, and to increase 
greatly the number chartered. 

4. There was a growth of religious — i. e., denominational — schools. 
It has not been thought necessary to carry this list beyond the 

beginning of the Civil War, not because no private schools were con- 
ducted after the end of the war, but for the much more important 
reason that that struggle marks the end of an era in educational prog- 
ress in Arkansas and in the South. Before then education was 
academic, select, classical, and belonged to the classes. It was an 
advantage to be paid for as any other luxury; it was not a necessity 
to be demanded from the State as a right. The private academy 
stands for the older idea; the public school for the newer. 

The early settlers in Arkansas began to put into practice the edu- 
cational ideas they had imbibed in their old homes. In the begin- 
ning elementary education was left largely to the family. Arkansas, 
like New England, depended on the private academy, not on the 
public school. This academy, without supervision or outside control 
and a law unto itself, owed its origin to private initiative and private 
munificence. It served primarily those who were able to pay for its 
advantages; after them, but to a more limited extent, it served the 
community as a whole. It was the source of education, and its 
course extended from the rudiments to the college. 

The southerner, true to his English ancestry, showed a tendency to 
develop the type of institution which he had received from his fathers. 
He did not take kindly to founding new ones. The feeling in the 
South, and in the Union as a whole for that matter — for it was 1820 
before primary instruction was made free even in Boston — was not 
against schools but against free schools, which were regarded by the 
poor as a badge of poverty and by the wealthy as degrading. The 
academy supplied the needs of the planter; if more was necessary 
he sent his sons to the University of North Carolina, the University 
of Virginia, or to the North. 1 The people as a whole had not felt the 
coming impulse and had made no demand. When the impulse came 
the aristocratic founders of private academies became the leaders in 
the new field of educational endeavor. 

Then, too, historically speaking, education was considered the 
daughter of religion and, like religion, was regarded as a matter of 
personal and domestic concern with which the State had no right to 
interfere. As each individual was allowed absolute liberty in mat- 
ters of religion, so he was in education. Further still, the popula- 
tion was small, indifferent to culture, bent on the conquest of nature, 
with little opportunity for organization, devoted to agriculture and 

i J. B. De Bow estimated that in 1855 the South paid the North $5,000,000 for books and education. 



PEIVATE SCHOOLS PKIOR TO THE CIVIL WAE. 23 

personal freedom, and so scattered that in 1840 it averaged 1.8 per- 
sons to the square mile and only 8 in 1860. There were no large 
towns to serve as centers of civic life and the large slave population 
complicated the problem. It is not surprising, then, that no general 
system of education was developed. 

Considering the inherent difficulties which the academies, more or 
less isolated and more or less transient, had to face, we can only 
marvel that they produced results as satisfactory as they did. They 
did not furnish universal education, but they did train a body of 
leaders who governed and developed the State, and, as Shinn well 
says: 

The teachers were men of parts, and the instruction managed in some way to sift 
itself through the whole community. Every bright boy got his share, and that irre- 
spective of his ability to pay. 1 

i Shinn's History of Education in Arkansas, p. 21. 



CHAPTER in. 

THE PUBLIC-SCHOOL SYSTEM AND THE STATE LAND 

FUNDS, 1827-1861. 

The history of public schools in Arkansas prior to 1861 is the his- 
tory of the public lands which had been granted by the Federal 
Government at various times to the State for educational purposes — 
the history of the seminary, saline, and sixteenth-section lands. 

It is also the history of a courageous people who sought by the em- 
pirical method to work out their educational salvation and who, be- 
cause of the spirit of the age or section, were unable to diagnose the 
fatal weakness of their system. In their organic capacity the people 
of Arkansas slowly and laboriously worked out their problem. It 
was a long and painful experiment, accompanied by many mistakes, 
for which they as a whole had to pay a heavy penalty, and yet each 
experience, each costly experiment, brought them visibly nearer the 
goal of universal education. 

These experiments in State education for all the people date from 
1827, and are therefore contemporaneous, throughout their whole 
course, with the evolution, development, and growth of the private 
academies. While the leaders of Arkansas were making use of the 
academy to supply their immediate educational needs, they were 
seeking slowly and painfully to evolve a plan of universal education 
by means of Government grants of public land. 

When we come to trace the history of the public-school movement 
in Arkansas, we find — 

(1) That it was an evolution from private schools, usually called 
academies. 

(2) That it drew its support (a) first of all from tuition fees and 
from endowments made by private individuals; (b) from direct 
taxation, which, however, during this period was so small that it may 
be neglected (being only $1,100 for the State for the year represented 
by the Federal Census of 1860); (c) from the income of the seminary 
and saline funds, which were soon diverted from the higher to the 
lower schools; (d) from the income of the sixteenth-section funds, 
which, as will be learned, was the property of the township, not of 
the State as a whole. 

As the basis of the schools was money, it becomes necessary to 
trace the history of the more important of these funds. The funds 
24 



PUBLIC-SCHOOL SYSTEM AND STATE LAND FUNDS. 25 

coming from private sources have been considered already in con- 
nection with the chapter on the private academies; that from taxa- 
tion may be neglected. 

THE SEMINARY AND SALINE FUNDS. 

As early as February 17,-1818, the Government of the United 
States had granted to the Territory of Missouri for educational pur- 
poses, two townships of land, one of which was to be located on the 
Arkansas. In 1827, by the act of March 2, this was changed so that 
the Secretary of the Treasury was authorized to set aside for the use 
of the Territory of Arkansas two entire townships "for the support 
and use of a University." These lands were to be located in tracts 
of not less than an entire section. They became known and are 
referred to as " seminary lands" and are so used in this paper. They 
are separate and distinct from the sixteenth-section lands, which 
were for the use of public schools. The seminary lands, when located, 
represented some of "the best and most valuable lands" in the 
Territory. Gov. Pope, in his message to the assembly of 1829, 
recommended that authority be obtained from Congress to lease 
them on long terms, so that tenants would feel "an interest in mak- 
ing lasting and valuable improvements." It was thought that in this 
way in a few years ample revenue would be secured "for the educa- 
tion of the rising generation of the Territory, an object of the highest 
importance in every free country." Gov. Pope's reasons for this 
recommendation are shown when, in the same message, he adverts to 
the condition of many of the newly arrived immigrants, refers to the 
presence of the land speculator, and in a veiled manner to the prom- 
ises then held out to Americans by the Mexican Government. These 
immigrants, he said, have — 

settled on the public lands and made small improvements to support their wives 
and children, and are liable every moment to be driven from their homes by the 
wealthy speculator, without compensation for their labor. They have not money to 
purchase where to lay their heads, and without the protecting hand of a wise, just, 
and humane government they must seek homes from the bounty of some foreign 
government. 1 

By an act of Congress of March 3, 1833, the governor was authorized 
to sell 20 sections of these lands and to apply the proceeds to build- 
ings for the proposed university. On October 24, 1835, Congress 
was asked by the general assembly for complete power over the 
seminary lands. 2 This request was granted in the act of June 23, 
1836, supplementary to the act of admission. By that act the lands 
for the proposed university and the saline lands were placed entirely 

i It should be recalled that the present homestead law was not then in existence. 

a By resolution of Nov. 3, 1835, the assembly asked for "entire control of tne sixteenth sections or school 
lands." The State act of Nov. 5, 1836, provides for another selection when the sixteenth section had been 
taken up by private parties. 



26 HISTOKY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN AEKANSAS. 

in the hands of the general assembly, and the grant of the sixteenth 
section "to the State for the use of the inhabitants of such township 
for the use of schools" was confirmed. 

In his message to the assembly of 1837 Gov. James S. Conway 
says: 

One among the important duties to be performed by the present legislature will 
be the judicious disposal of the fund which will arise from a donation of 72 sections 
of land granted to the State by the General Government for the purpose of establish- 
ing a seminary of learning. Its magnitude will doubtless insure your serious consid- 
eration. The creation of institutions of learning upon a scale as liberal as our means 
will justify must give to our young State an early, respectable, and proud stand among 
her sister republics. Most of the States of the Union have adopted measures and 
created funds for a general system of education, and from their experience we are 
taught that an earlier movement in the same course would have advanced the moral 
and intellectual standard of their citizens; and, learning wisdom from the experience 
of our neighbors, we can, in the outset, take such steps as will enable all our citizens 
to bestow on their children the benefits of education. 

Shinn remarks (p. 14) that because of his penchant for educational 
philosophy and history Gov. Conway saw — 

means and ends not discernible by those about him; * * * the trend of educa- 
tional work went on under the guidance of individual experience rather than from 
any study and generalization of the past experiences of others. Forty years were 
devoted to gathering experiences, when the same results might have been reached 
by a careful historic study in a few years. 

This criticism is eminently just, for the men who held the educa- 
tional future of the State in their hands were without educational 
experience of the sort necessary for the problem; no educational 
leader arose in that generation, and as a result this great endowment 
melted away even before the shock of war had come. 1 

In response to the governor's appeal, the assembly, by act of 
December 17, 1838, provided for the sale of all seminary lands. 
The funds arising from these sales were made a part of the capital of 
the bank of the State of Arkansas, but were declared a privileged 
fund, were not liable for the payment of the debts of the bank or of 
its branches, and were to be credited with all of their earnings. 2 In 
accord with this law, on February 17 and 18, 1840, all located and 
unlocated seminary lands were offered for sale. The governor was 
made the agent of the State, a minimum price of $10 was fixed, but 
only four 80-acre tracts were sold, for a total of $3,212. This seems 
to have discouraged the governor, who recommended in his next 
message that the minimum price be reduced to $5 and when not sold 
at public auction it be disposed of at private sale. In accord with 
this recommendation a new act was passed on December 28, 1840, 

i In 1838 Gov. Conway "earnestly recommended that means be adopted that will insure the speedy 
erection of a seminary." House Jour., 161-162, sess. 1838. 
* For the amount finally lost through the bank of the State of Arkansas, see Chapter IX. 



PUBLIC-SCHOOL SYSTEM AND STATE LAND FUNDS. 27 

under which the price of these lands, at public or private sale, for 
the first six months was fixed at $6; for the next six it was fixed at 
$5; for the next six, $4; and after 18 months it was to be $3 per 
acre, " until otherwise altered by law." 

This act was a long step backward, for not only was the time of 
payment extended to five annual installments, but the expression 
''until otherwise altered by law" invited land speculators and debtors 
to make demand for further concessions — an invitation which they 
are never slow to accept. 

And yet, in his inaugural address before this same assembly in 
November, 1840, Gov. Archibald Yell had given utterance to an 
expression which indicated real educational statesmanship, which if 
carried out would have put Arkansas in the forefront of educational 
endeavor, and which marks Gov. Yell as a leader who was far ahead 
of his time. He said: 

As a large portion of our rising generation are designed for agricultural employ- 
ments, I respectfully suggest such a system of education as would not only teach 
science and literature, but combining practical knowledge of the mode of farming, 
which will tend to inculcate principles of economy and industry. The student then, 
in quitting his school, is qualified for his profession and at once becomes an ornament 
and useful member of society. 1 

He renewed this recommendation in 1843. 

But after the passage of the act of December 28, 1840, not much 
was to be expected from the seminary lands. In 1842 the assembly 
went further and gave up its rights to certain lands in favor of the 
squatters who were upon them. In 1844, December 18, the assem- 
bly asked Congress to allow it to apply the proceeds of the seminary 
lands to the common school fund. This request was granted by act 
of July 29, 1846. 2 

By act of December 23, 1846, the assembly made the agent of 
State lands also agent of the seminary lands and authorized him to 
dispose of them at private sale. The price was fixed for the first 
year at $4 per acre; for the second at $3; and thereafter at $2. The 
payments were to be made in five years. In the case of the seminary 
lands there was a system by which land titles were secured or land 
money obtained from the treasury. Borrowers did not work singly 
but in companies, and by becoming surety for each other were able 
to obtain a maximum of loans on a minimum of security. One 
company of borrowers had 3 members and gave 10 notes; a second 
company of 5 gave 30 notes with one of their number as principal 
and 2 or 3 of the others as securities. In the list of 55 notes reported 
October 1, 1842, there were in all exactly 21 different names, with a 

i Jour. House Rep., 1840-41, p. 274. Ibid, 1843, App., p. 14. 

2 And yet, on November 7, 1846, Gov. Drew writes to the assembly as if in ignorance of this congressional 
act. House Jour., 1848, p. 14. 



28 HISTOKY OF PtTBLIC EDUCATION ttf ARKANSAS. 

total principal of $29,269.53. The Big Five got off with the lion's 
share — 30 notes for $21,805 (principal). 1 

In 1847 Ebenezer Cummins, one of the greatest lawyers of that day, was retained 
by the auditor to enforce payment for seminary lands sold to James Trigg, Richard 
Pryor, John W. Paup, and others. He brought suit in the Pulaski circuit court in 
that year, and on November 23 obtained two judgments against Trigg, Pryor, and 
Paup; one for $6,119.44, and the other for $10,709.10, or a total of $16,828.54. The 
defendants tendered in payment the paper money issued by the broken State Bank 
of Arkansas and made this tender a defense to the action. This was overruled by the 
circuit court and in turn by the supreme court of the State. This case was appealed 
to the Supreme Court of the United States, where the following decision was reached 
(10 Howard, 218): 

Although the pledge of the State to receive the notes of the bank in payment of 
all debts due to it in its own right was a contract which it could not violate, yet 
where the State sold lands which were held by it in trust for the benefit of a semi- 
nary, and the terms of the sale were that the debtor should pay in specie or its 
equivalent, such debtor was not at liberty to tender the notes of the bank in payment. 

This decision went further and said: 

The lands sold did not belong to the State of Arkansas, but were held by it in 
trust, to be appropriated solely for the use of the seminary. The money secured to 
be paid by the purchaser partook of the same character. * * * Should the money 
be invested by the State and lost, it would be responsible for it. No hazard incurred 
in the appropriation or use of this money could exonerate the State from faithfully 
carrying out the object for which the fund was originally constituted. 

Other judgments were obtained about the same time amounting to $20,279.20, 
making the whole fund $48,000, the greater part of which was presumably never 
collected. 2 

In 1849 came the final blow to the seminary fund as such. Under 
an act passed in that year and in accord with the authority granted 
by the congressional act of 1846, the assembly provided that the 
principal of the seminary and saline funds should be divided among 
the counties for the use of common schools in proportion to their 
school census. The principal of these various county funds was to 
remain as an inviolate, permanent endowment fund. It was to be 
loaned by the county treasurer on good security at not less than 10 
per cent, and the income was to be distributed among the school dis- 
tricts (i. e., townships) in proportion to school population. 

In accord with this law semiannual distributions of the seminary 
and saline funds were made to the counties on account of the 
public schools. Their distribution on January 1 and July 1 are 
reported in the State auditor's accounts, but there is little uniformity 
in them. The term " apportioned" is used as synonymous with 
" distributed" and "drawn." So far as possible these accounts 
have been reconstructed from the varying reports of the auditor 
and treasurer and are given at length in the chapter on the permanent 
school fund. 

1 See auditor's report, 1842, in App. House Jour., 1842. 
1 See Sh inn's History of Education in Arkansas, p. 18. 



PUBLIC-SCHOOL SYSTEM AND STATE LAND FUNDS. 29 

THE SIXTEENTH SECTION FUND. 

The policy of granting the sixteenth section in each township for 
the use of public education had its origin in the ordinance of 1787. 
No general law was passed by Congress concerning the granting of 
these lands, but it became a general principle, and on March 3, 1803, 
Congress extended the privileges of the ordinance of 1787 to States 
in the Mississippi territory and thence it passed to those west of the 
river. It was recognized in the enabling act of Missouri in 1820 
(March 6) and passed to Arkansas with its organization as a Territory 
of the second grade, March 2, 1819. * By formal act of January 6, 
1829, the Territorial authorities were authorized to make and carry 
into effect — 

such laws and needful regulations as they shall deem most expedient to protect from 
injury and waste the sixteenth section in all townships of lands in said territory 
* * * which sections are reserved for the support of schools in each township, 
and to provide by law for leasing or renting the same, for any term not exceeding five 
years, in such manner as to render said school lands most valuable and productive, 
and shall apply the rents derived therefrom to the support of common schools in the 
respective townships. 2 

In accord with this law of Congress, the Territorial legislature, on 
November 21, 1829, passed a law to regulate the use of these lands. 
The judge of the county court was required to appoint a trustee for 
the sixteenth section. His duty was to preserve the land from waste 
and to lease it for not more than five years ; the income arising was 
to be appropriated "to the support of a school in said township," and 
in case the inhabitants were too few in the township for a separate 
school, on petition of two-thirds of the inhabitants of "one or more 
adjoining townships/' the county court might consolidate their 
schools. 

It will be noted that this act gave the sixteenth sections to the town- 
ships — not to the State — and provided that each township should 
have the funds arising from its own lands, and no more. Provision 
was made for a township school with something of county super- 
vision, and, in its rudimentary form, for a tentative solution of the 
problem of all thinly settled communities — the consolidation of 
rural schools. This phase of the law, however, was repealed in 
1831 . There is no record of the workings of this first effort to organize 
a public-school system on the basis of the Federal land grants. It 
seems that substantially nothing was done, for no other mention of 
schools in the laws is discoverable until Arkansas had become a 
State. But, says Shinn: 3 

In 1829 almost every township of the few counties that constituted the Territory 
had a school of some kind, some of which were private schools taught by old-field 

i See acts of Mar. 2, 1819, and Apr. 21, 1820. * U. S. Stat. L., act of Jan. 6, 1829. 

3 Report Supt. Public Instruction, 1907-8, p. 25. 



30 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ARKANSAS. 

schoolmasters, well-educated men, while others were schools under the control of 
the county court of the county, and received the money derived from the rental of 
the 72 sections, which fund was supplemented by private tuition. 

The addresses of governors prior to 1840, however, gave a picture 
much less roseate than that drawn by Prof. Shinn. 

THE CONSTITUTION OF 1836. 

The constitution under which Arkansas was admitted to the Union 
has the following provision in regard to education: 

Knowledge and learning generally diffused through a community being essential 
to the preservation of a free government, and diffusing the opportunities and advan- 
tages of education through the various parts of the State being highly conducive to 
this end, it shall be the duty of the general assembly to provide by law for the im- 
provement of such lands as are, or hereafter may be, granted by the United States 
to this State for the use of schools, and to apply any funds which may be raised 
from such lands, or from any other source, to the accomplishment of the object for 
which they are or may be intended. The general assembly shall from time to time 
pass such laws as shall be calculated to encourage intellectual, scientific, and agri- 
cultural improvement by allowing rewards and immunities for the promotion and 
improvement of arts, science, commerce, manufactures, and natural history, and 
countenance and encourage the principles of humanity, industry, and morality. 

In his inaugural, delivered as first governor of the new State, 
James S. Conway indulges in hopeful expectations: 

Let us, therefore, examine far and collect all materials calculated to enlighten the 
public mind and diffuse general and useful knowledge. 

Thinking of the great but undeveloped resources of the State, he 
adds: 

"We have ample means for the establishment of such institutions of learning as will 
insure universal education to the youth of our country. 

But it is hardly probable that the governor realized the necessity 
of supplementing the fund by taxation or the amount of educational 
statesmanship required to turn their wild lands into a fund, even 
in part sufficient for the education of the whole people, or that upon 
the efficiency of this statesmanship depended .whether the schools 
should be supported in part out of an endowment established through 
the generosity of the Federal Government or whether their support 
should come entirely from the pockets of the people. By this time 
(1837) the general assembly seems to have arrived at the belief that 
sufficient funds could not be secured from leasing these lands to 
support the schools, but the idea of taxation for school support had 
not developed. 

Gov. Conway said (1837) that the State was "almost destitute of 
good common schools/ ' and the legislature of that year memorialized 
Congress for authority to sell in fee simple the sixteenth sections. 1 

i Jour. House Rep., 1837, p. 183. 



PUBLIC-SCHOOL SYSTEM AND STATE LAND FUNDS. 31 

This was given by an act of February 15, 1843, which was made appli- 
cable to Illinois, Louisiana, and Tennessee, as well as to Arkansas, 
and by which these States were authorized to lease or sell "all or 
any part of the lands" granted for the use of schools. The legis- 
lature was directed to invest the money thus secured "in some pro- 
ductive fund" and the proceeds were alone to be used. Congress was 
careful to provide also that these lands should not be sold without 
consent of the particular townships, and that — 

in the apportionment of the proceeds of said fund each township and district shall be 
entitled to such part thereof, and no more, as shall have accrued from the sum or sums 
of money arising from the sale of the school lands belonging to such township or district. 

Congress provided further: 

That if the proceeds accruing to any township or district from said fund shall be 
insufficient for the support of schools therein, it shall be lawful for said legislatures to 
invest the same in the most secure and productive manner until the whole proceeds 
of the fund belonging to such township or district shall be adequate to the permanent 
maintenance and support of schools within the same : Provided, That the legislatures 
aforesaid shall in no case invest the proceeds of the sale of the lands in any township 
in manner aforesaid without the consent of the inhabitants in said township or district, 
to be obtained as aforesaid. 

THE ACT OF 1843. 

In the meantime the State had again begun to consider the question 
of using and administering any funds that might arise from the 
sixteenth sections. In 1840 a law of this kind had been passed, 
which applied to a single township in Independence County. Then 
followed other acts, and on February 3, 1843, a general act was passed 
"to establish a system of common schools in the State of Arkansas." 

As this was the first State-wide or general effort to organize the 
public educational forces of the State, it must be carefully examined. 
It should be remembered that at the time of passage of this act 
Congress had not consented to the sale in fee simple of the sixteenth 
sections. 

The act provided that on request of any township where there were 
as many as 5 householders and 15 white children the county court 
should order an election for a commissioner for that township, whose 
duty it should be to sell, or lease if the township preferred, the six- 
teenth sections on 10 years' credit, at not less than $2 per acre. 
The funds thus accruing were to be perpetual, the income only to be 
used. There was to be elected also a board of three school trustees 
who should have supervision and control of the fund thus created; 
they were authorized, when the funds were sufficient, to build school- 
houses, were required to employ teachers, and to keep a school or 
schools open four months in the year, each taught by a competent 
teacher. The subjects covered were "orthography, reading, writing, 
English grammar, geography, arithmetic, and good morals." The 



32 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ARKANSAS. 

school officers were also authorized to receive donations and sub- 
scriptions to supplement the income from the sixteenth-section fund. 
They were directed to take an annual school census and to ascertain 
the amount subscribed for each pupil, the number for whom there 
was no subscription, because they were unable financially to sub- 
scribe, and to consolidate township schools if found desirable. 

Further, each county was to elect a board of county school com- 
missioners, composed of 3 elective members, together with the county 
clerk and the county judge. This board was to have charge of the 
funds that belonged distinctively to the county. This, rather than 
the township, was to pay for the tuition and books of indigent chil- 
dren and to aid the weaker townships in bringing their income up 
to that of the stronger ones, so far as county funds would allow. This 
county fund was made up of moneys arising from escheats, strays, 
saline lands, fines, and unexpended balances of the surplus revenue. 

An analysis of this law will show how far it was from the modern 
idea. The schools were to be supported entirely from contributions 
and the sixteenth-section endowment. There was no suggestion of 
State or local taxation. Those unable to contribute were to be 
educated as " indigent children." The funds from the sixteenth 
section under the most favorable conditions were inadequate. Had 
the lands been sold at $2 per acre for cash the whole principal would 
have been but $1,280 per township, which, if invested at 10 per cent, 
a rate not unreasonable at the time and place, would have produced 
an annual income of $128, a sum barely sufficient to support one 
teacher for three months, leaving nothing for incidentals or for build- 
ings. But the lands were sold on 10 years' time, and we know in many 
cases were never paid for. It becomes evident, then, that the public 
schools had in the main to depend on private subscriptions and could 
regard the income from the public-land fund (both seminary and six- 
teenth section) as, at best, but an uncertain adjunct to the contribu- 
tions of interested and public-spirited citizens. 

In 1844 the auditor, Elias N. Conway, later governor, said that he 
had sent out blanks for reports on number of pupils, disposition of 
the sixteenth sections, and organization of common schools. He 
complains that only 14 counties had reported, and that little had 
been done in these. 

He sharply criticizes the law of 1843: 

The common-school law is so complicated, and requires the concert of action in so 
many officers, that * * * the system * * * can never be fully organized in 
a State so sparsely settled as ours. To organize every township and county in the State 
under this law would require about 5,800 officers, all to act and attend to duties assigned 
them without any compensation but the satisfaction derived from aiding in the cause 
of education. 

This law * * * conflicts with the act of Congress authorizing the State to sell 
the sixteenth sections; and also provides for the distribution of the saline fund for the 



PUBLIC-SCHOOL SYSTEM AND STATE LAND FUNDS. 33 

use of common schools in violation of the act of Congress requiring this fund to be 
expended for making internal improvements. 

For the organization of a system of common schools * * * a new law should be 
passed, plain, comprehensive, requiring fewer officers and proper accountability 
in them; and that duplicates of their bonds and returns of all sales of lands and of their 
other proceedings should be filed in some office at the seat of government. 1 

We have here the germ of the State superintendent's office. 

The law of 1843 failed to accomplish its object. The funds pro- 
duced by the sale of the sixteenth sections were insufficient to meet 
the needs of the common schools, and by a resolution of December 18, 
1844, the general assembly asked Congress for authority to sell the 
seminary lands and apply the proceeds to the public schools. This 
permission was given by Congress by an act passed July 29, 1846, 2 
and by another act passed March 3, 1847, the State was authorized 
to sell the saline lands granted by the Federal Government and apply 
the proceeds for the same purpose. In this way all the lands granted 
for the support of schools of any class were concentrated on the public 
schools. 

By legislative act of February 3, 1843, an executive school body, 
"The Board of Education for the State of Arkansas," was created. 
It consisted of the governor, the president of the senate, the speaker 
of the house, the supreme judges, and 10 members of the general 
assembly — all men with numerous other public and private duties 
to perform. There was not a professional teacher among them, nor 
did the profession of teaching in itself make a man eligible for mem- 
bership on this board. It was to meet upon the convening of each 
assembly, and immediately after their own election make regulations 
necessary to carry out t*he law and report on the progress of education. 
No such reports have been preserved. 

It does not appear that any serious attempt was made to carry out 
the act of 1843. Gov. Drew urged the assembly in 1844 that they — 

by reference to all previous legislation, ascertain wherein our laws are defective or 
inapplicable, and having done this, proceed with promptness and fidelity to provide 
for the most advantageous and speedy disposal of all the seminary lands, so as to raise 
a sufficient fund to commence the good work of establishing an institution of learning. 

In 1846 he said: 

The common-school system heretofore attempted has not been carried into successful 
operation; nor can it be in the absence of means, none having been provided except 
for the purchase of books. 

1 In 1848 Conway suggested that the saline lands be devoted to higher education. 

2 U. S. Stat. L., vol. 9, p. 42. 

53733°— 12 3 



34 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ARKANSAS. 

In 1848 he wanted a second section of land in each township 
donated for education, and recommended that the counties donate 
to the school fund all fines, forfeitures, etc. He said further: 

There are already many respectable schools and seminaries in successful operation 
in different sections of the State, sustained alone by individual means and individual 
enterprise. 

There is here no mention or suggestion of taxation for schools, but 
this was not to be expected when the whole tax levy was only one- 
eighth of 1 per cent, or 12J cents per $100, and when the running 
expenses were paid in part out of the surplus revenue. 

STATE TEXTBOOKS, 1843. 

The act of 1843 undertook to settle the ever-recurring question of 
textbooks. Section 31 of the. law appropriated $1,000 "out of the 
common-school fund" for the purchase of books for the "use of com- 
mon schools in this State," Section 32 authorizes the auditor to 
purchase the books and to distribute them to the counties in propor- 
tion to the children from 5 to 21 years old. Section 33 provides that 
the county commissioners distribute — 

the same amongst the common schools of their respective counties as the same may 
be required for the use of said schools, at an advance of 10 per cent on the cost and 
transportation thereof. 

But this law was not executed. Says Auditor Conway, under 
date of October 1, 1844: 

The law requiring that these textbooks should be purchased in some eastern city, 
where they can be had on the best terms, the auditor applied in person and writing 
to the fficers of the bank for $1,000 in specie or par funds, but they refused to pay 
any+' lg but Arkansas bank paper, which could not be used in any of the eastern 
cities. Under these circumstances the money has not been drawn, nor have the 
books been purchased; but the whole matter is left subject to the action of the legis- 
lature at the approaching session. 1 

The assembly, on January 7, 1845, passed a new law under which 
it appropriated "the whole of the common-school fund," amounting 
to $1,515.84, to be expended under conditions essentially similar to 
those of the law of 1843, to which the present law is an amendment. 
It is significant that while sections 31 and 32 of the act of 1843 are 
repealed, section 33, which provides for the distribution of these 
books, is not repealed. 

Two days later, January 9, 1845, the assembly, seemingly forget- 
ting their action of the 7th, passed "An act supplementary to an act 
to establish a system of common schools in the State of Arkansas," 
of which section 1 repeals sections 31 and 32 of the act of February 
3, 1843, which had already been repealed by section 5 of the act of 
January 7, 1845; section 2 directs the financial receiver of the State 

1 Auditor's report, 1844, p. 64. 



PUBLIC-SCHOOL SYSTEM AND STATE LAND FUNDS. 



35 



Bank of Arkansas to place $1,000 in specie to the credit of the State 
treasurer, and the auditor was to expend it "for the purchase of 
books for the use of common schools"; section 4 provides that the 
books be distributed "to the board of school commissioners of the 
several counties." 

Further record is found that this law was never complied with, 
for — 

the whole of the common-school fund having been appropriated and withdrawn from 
the bank under act of January 7, 1845, on the 8th January, 1845, no funds remained 
out of which the appropriation could be paid. 1 

There is also an account of the operations of the law of January 7, 
1845, in the auditor's report for 1846 (p. 19). Mr. Alexander Boileau 
was sent to New York and there purchased books, as given below. 
In reporting the matter Auditor Conway adds: 

Mr. Boileau performed his trust to the entire satisfaction of the auditor, and a list 
of the kinds of books purchased will be found in the table marked D, with the price 
(after adding 10 per cent on the cost and transportation) at which the boards of school 
commissioners will have to dispose of each as provided by law. 

The auditor says also that for lack of funds he had not. been able to 
complete the distribution, but had receipts from 22 counties. 
The list of books, etc., is as follows: 2 

A statement of the kinds of books purchased by the auditor for the use of common 
schools, under "An act to appropriate the whole of the common-school fund to the 
purchase of books for common schools," approved January 7, 1845, to which is added 
a sequel to Webster's Spelling Book, 300 copies of which George T. Coolidge & Bro., 
of New York City, furnished without charge; also a statement of the price at which 
the boards of school commissioners are to dispose of the books as provided by law, 
being an advance of 10 per cent on the cost and transportation. 



Kinds of books. 



Selling 


Number 


price. 


purchased. 


Cents. 




5 


1,575 


3 


4,200 


10 


1,044 


15 


1,044 


25 


1,044 


30 


600 


50 


450 


15 


750 


25 


750 


30 


525 


15 


750 




3,000 


6 


15 


325 


30 


384 


25 





United States Primer 

Webster's Spelling Book 

Goodrich's Reader, No. 1 

No. 2 

No. 3 

Willard's History of the United States. 

Morse's Geography 

Davies's Arithmetic, No. 1 

No.2 

Gallaudet's Dictionary .• 

Slates, 7 by 11 inches 

Slate pencils, each 

Slate pencils, per dozen 

Bullion's English Grammar 

Root's copy books, for series of 4 

Sequel to Webster's Spelling Book 



1 Auditor's report, 1846. 

2 The selling price is taken from the auditor's report; the number of copies purchased is from Shinn's 
History of Education in Arkansas. 



36 HISTORY OP PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ARKANSAS. 



In his report for 1848 the auditor says: 

TVio coVir»r>l l-»r>nlr« wViir>Vi +Y\& anrHtrYi* ir> <*r>nnrr\nT\ne 



The school books which the auditor, in accordance with law, purchased for the use 
of common schools have been a convenience in some of the counties, but in others it 
is believed but little has been done with them. The law respecting those books 
should be amended so that the board of school commissioners would have entire con- 
trol of them, so that they might be disposed of for the benefit of the schools in the 
county, whether such schools be organized under the common-school law or not, for 
if they can not be used except for schools organized under our present common-school 
law, it is feared that in some of the counties they will never be brought in requisition. 1 

From this recital of the law and the facts it does not appear that 
these were "free textbooks" in the modern sense, and it is evident 
that the scheme was not a success, for a law of January 5, 1849, 
forbade the further expenditure of any part of the school funds for 
"books, maps, or stationery to be used in said common schools." 

The books actually purchased do not seem to have been readily 
disposed of as the law directed, for a later act allowed them to be 
sold to private schools, since otherwise, as the law recites, the books 
might never get into circulation and so be entirely useless. Finally, 
a law, passed January 10, 1853, directed the county clerks to sell all 
of these books still on hand at public vendue. 

THE ACT OF 1849. 

On January 5, 1849, another school law was passed by the legis- 
lature. Among other things, it provided for the disposition of the 
seminary and saline lands, the control of which had been placed in 
their hands by Congress. It made the political township the unit 
of local school organization; once in two years a local board of 3 
trustees was to be elected, whose duties were to take the school 
census, elect teachers, issue warrants, and supervise schools, when 
there was in their district "a sufficient fund." 

It appropriated, to carry out the provisions of the act, the sum 
of $250,000, which was to be collected out of the sale of seminary 
and saline lands. Reynolds and Thomas, in their History of the 
University of Arkansas (p. 16), remark: 

The general assembly might have appropriated a million dollars as well, for nothing 
like the appropriation made ever came into the treasury from these sources to be 
distributed. t 

THE ACT OF 1851. 

There was still some official opposition to the school system. 
At least there were certain officials who saw clearly enough the 
real trouble with the common schools and were courageous enough 
to acknowledge those causes. 

1 Auditor's report, 1848, sup. to Laws, p. 213. 



PUBLIC-SCHOOL SYSTEM AND STATE LAND FUNDS. 37 

In his message to the assembly in November, 1850, Gov. John S. 
Roane argued against the success of the common schools because of 
the size of the State, the lack of population and means, and still 
more, because of the lack of educated men who might serve as 
teachers, and, as in the older States 'of the East, give tone, character, 
and trend to the educational uplift. For these reasons he thought 
it idle to try to follow in the steps of the older and more densely 
populated States. "All experience proves/' he says, "that the 
common-school system when attempted in a country so sparsely 
populated as ours, has failed.'' He heartily condemned the transfer 
of the seminary fund to the common schools, seems to have been 
about the first to realize the insufficiency of those funds, which he 
characterizes as "a mere pittance," and thinks all that could be 
done at that time would be to establish one or more seminaries 
"offering the advantages of a liberal education," the public funds on 
hand to be used to reduce their expenses, and to repeal, if necessary, 
the law giving the seminary funds to the common schools. 1 

In 1851 another law was passed, making some changes and im- 
provements, and tending to consolidate and simplify. It provided 
a township organization with county supervision, but concerned 
itself mainly with the administration of the sixteenth section. The 
county courts were given "a general jurisdiction, supervision, and 
control" of all matters pertaining to the common schools. A "com 
mon-school commissioner" was to be elected in each township where 
there were as many as 15 white pupils 5 to 21 years of age. This 
commissioner might lease or sell the sixteenth section at $2 per acre 
until twice offered, and after that at $1.25 per acre. The purchaser 
was given 10 years in which to pay. The county treasurer was 
made treasurer of the township funds and was required to keep 
them separate and distinct. The township commissioner was 
required to make a regular report of the condition of the school in 
his township. The county court was to give directions and instruc- 
tion to the school commissioner. The offices of school trustees and 
commissioners were repealed, and the township school commissioner 
was required to perform their duties. The county court might, if it 
saw fit, appropriate certain county funds "to the establishment of 
an academy or high seminary of learning in said county," but if the 
court should not deem it advisable to establish such a seminary, then 
it "may apply the interest * * * to the support of common 
schools" whenever an equivalent was raised by private contribution, 
but no township funds might be consolidated without consent of 
the voters. 

1 House Jour., 1850, pp. 32-33. 



38 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ARKANSAS. 

THE ACT OF 1853. 

In his message to the assembly in November, 1852, Gov. Roane 
again says, after referring to the "vicious distribution policy" of the 
State: 

I am convinced from a careful investigation into the history of common schools 
and other public institutions of learning in other new States, and the practical opera- 
tion of this law here at home, that no possible good has come of it, or ever can result 
to the State, or any considerable portion of the people. Common schools can prove 
beneficial only in thickly settled communities, and that, too, where seminaries of 
learning have previously been in successful operation, and the minds of the people 
prepared by a previous course of training for their reception. Before common schools 
can result in that general benefit claimed for them by their friends a sufficient num- 
ber of the community must be men educated to prepare public opinion for such a 
course of instruction and to take charge of these schools in every neighborhood where 
they may be established. 

He again recommends that the act distributing the seminary fund 
be repealed and that 3 seminaries be established, the graduates of 
which should be required to teach a definite number of years. 

Thus you will prepare the way for common schools, and by the time the system 
can be put into successful operation a sufficient number of young men will be edu- 
cated and prepared to conduct them. 1 

In these extracts we again see the old struggle of the private 
seminary or academy against the common or public school, the 
aristocratic road to learning rather than the democratic one; but it 
it is only fair to say that at that time and place the seminary and 
the academy covered much of the ground that we to-day refer solely 
to the primary grades of the public school. 

The act of 1853 made the school organization more connected and 
compact. Its effect was to produce a more workable law than pre- 
vious acts had done, and to bring order out of the preexisting chaos. 
By the act of 1853, and in accord with the recommendation of the 
governor, the secretary of state, in addition to other duties, was 
made ex officio State commissioner of schools and required to gather 
information as to schools and the school fund and to report annually 
to the governor on their condition. The work in the county was 
unified by the election of a county " common-school commissioner/ ' 
who became ex officio county school superintendent, and as such, 
had general supervision of its common schools. He was to advise 
and assist the township trustees in the performance of their duties. 
He was to write them lettters, giving advice on the best manner of 
conducting common schools, constructing schoolhouses, and procur- 
ing competent teachers. He was to recommend the most approved 
textbooks, maps, charts, and apparatus, " and shall urge unif ormity 
in the use of the same, as well as the manner of conducting common 

i House Jour., 1852, pp. 25-26. 



PUBLIC-SCHOOL SYSTEM AND STATE LAND FUNDS. 39 

schools throughout the county." He was to make a report to the 
State school commissioner, to examine teachers, and grant certifi- 
cates. The township funds were taken out of the hands of the 
county treasurer and put in charge of a township treasurer. This 
officer was also one of a board of 3 township trustees, who took the 
place of the township " common-school commissioner/' of the act 
of 1851. Under the act of 1853 the township treasurer was to 
report to the county common-school commissioner on the number 
of children 5 to 18 years old, the number in school, the number of 
schools, amount of school funds, amount loaned, etc. 

Besides private contributions, the school funds were derived from 
the sixteenth sections, from escheats, fines, forfeitures, seminary and 
saline lands, etc. — the sources from which the present permanent 
school fund is derived. There was, as yet, no taxation for schools. 

Then there follows what was for that day a rather remarkable 
clause : 

All guardians residing in any township in any county, having the control of any 
ward or wards eligible to the common schools, shall be * * * required to send 
such ward or wards to some good school, if any common school be taught in the town- 
ship in which the ward or wards reside, at least one-fourth of the time said common 
school may be taught. 

Conviction of failure meant a fine of $5 to $25. 

There was no general school law enacted after that of 1853 until that 
of 1866-67. The act of 1853 was amended in 1855 so as to require 
each county to elect "one common-school commissioner" and 3 town- 
ship commissioners, although this was followed by another law at the 
same session exempting 7 counties from the provisions of the general 
act. The special act provided that in the counties there named the 
county courts should have entire control of the schools. The general 
act provided further that the lands of the sixteenth section still 
remaining unsold might be leased, or, as a last resort, sold for what 
they would bring. With the consent of the voters the county court 
might also establish "an academy or seminary of learning" with a 
part of the public funds, provided a like sum was raised by private 
subscription ; by consent of the voters it could also consolidate the 
funds of the townships. The county courts, if they saw proper, might 
appoint "any number of examiners to examine into the condition of 
schools and into the qualification of teachers." 

These supplementary acts indicate that some of the counties still 
clung to certain decentralizing features of the law of 1851, and that 
the more centralized system of 1853 did not come into being without 
protest. From this time there were various special acts. In 1856 
one provided for a vote to see whether the fund from a certain six- 
teenth section should be vested in the Princeton Male and Female 
Academies. This may be counted as the expiring effort of the old 



40 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION Itt ARKANSAS. 

privileged classes to get for themselves the bounty of the General 
Government which had been intended for all. Finally, an act of 
March 21, 1862, forbade the further sale of public lands of any kind 
belonging to the State until after the close of the Civil War and 
pledged those lands for the payment of the war debt. 

The student is immediately impressed with the idea that the law of 
1853 was by far the best and most workable of all passed to that date. 
A working system was now being developed from the township 
trustees of the local school up through the county superintendent to 
the State superintendent, and there is here a clearly marked tendency 
toward centralization. But, at best, the friends of common-school 
education faced dilemmas which were, of necessity, fatal to their 
hopes. If they sold the school lands, the small amount which they 
would bring, because of the scattered population (only 1.8 per square 
mile in 1840 and 4 per square mile in 1850) and the abundance and 
cheapness of lands, made school support from this source an impos- 
sibility; if they did not sell the lands the sources of support were still 
further reduced. Between these difficulties we may not wonder that 
the most enthusiastic advocates of education hesitated. A fatal 
mistake was made in selling the lands and investing the proceeds 
instead of holding the land and awaiting the still greater increase of 
value that was sure to come with a growing population. But as has 
been said, the effort to preserve these lands intact for later generations 
was opposed by the present desire of the people for the best selections, 
and this in turn was aided by the educational experience of all the 
public men in the State. As in the case of the seminary lands, so in 
that of the sixteenth-section lands, private interests were allowed to 
take precedence over public welfare, for in 1856 the State school com- 
missioner, in his report, said: 

- I repeat, there is no question that the school lands are daily being sacrificed. It 
seems that the commissioners in many instances are eager for a wholesale disposal of 
the lands. The lands are converted into money, but no schools are established. 
By a combination of interested persons, the lands may be frequently sacrificed. 

In 1858 the same officer said: 

The almost total inattention manifested by the county commissioners to the plain 
provisions of the law is the cause of much embarrassment in the practical operation 
of the law establishing the common-school system. The failure of our common-school 
system I do not think is attributable so much to any intrinsic defect in the law as 
from the total disregard of its requirements shown by many of the officers intrusted 
with its enforcement. 

THE WORKING OP THE LAW OP 1853. 

In November, 1854, Gov. Elias N. Conway said: 

We have a common-school law intended as a system of establishing common schools 
in all parts of the State; but for want of adequate means there are very few in operation 
under this law. 



PUBLIC-SCHOOL SYSTEM AND STATE LAND FUNDS. 41 

As a subsidiary fund he recommended that the county court be 
authorized, when the county so desired, to appropriate the poll tax 
for primary education. This, together with the seminary and saline 
funds, " added to the proceeds of the sales of sixteenth sections, and 
other school funds would insure to every county * * * some free 
schools." 

This seems to have been the first official utterance proposing taxa- 
tion as a solution of the problem. 

REPORTS ON THE SCHOOLS, 1854-1861. 

In 1854 David B. Greer, then secretary of state and ex officio 
" State commissioner of common schools/' made his first report and 
thus summarized the difficulties: From many counties no report had 
been received and many counties, probably, had no school organiza- 
tion whatsoever under the law then in force, but were still acting 
under the older law; county school commissioners were embarrassed 
by defects in the law; frequent changes made it difficult to follow, 
and by the time the law began to be understood it was repealed. He 
saijl: 

The condition of common schools in the State presents a gloomy picture, but the 
friends of education should not be discouraged. The same difficulties experienced by 
Arkansas in their establishment have been more or less felt in all the new and sparsely 
settled States. 

He reviews the means at the disposal of the school authorities : One 
thousand five hundred sections of school lands ; seminary and saline 
lands, fines, forfeitures, and other sources. In many townships there 
were " ample means," but no effort had been made to establish schools. 
He failed to realize that without public taxation public schools can 
never succeed, but he did realize that — 

the great obstacle in the organization of common schools is not so much a deficiency 
in the means to sustain them, but it is attributable to the indifference that pervades 
the public mind on the subject of education. 

He made at least one great step forward in educational statesman- 
ship when he recommended the appointment of a State superintendent 
of public schools, "a man of ability and education," "an enlightened 
and zealous superintendent," who should go out among the people, 
and with the spirit of the missionary preach the doctrine of educa- 
tional salvation. 

Mr. Greer was able also to make some report on the condition of 
affairs in the counties. He reports school funds in the hands of the 
various school commissioners of the counties, as follows: Benton, 
$2,022.08; Bradley, $4,392.88; Carroll, $2,768; Columbia, $7,488; 
Conway, $2,564; Crittenden, $5,133.28; Dallas, $4,045.75; Desha, 
$9,794.29; Drew, $1,099.29; Franklin, $6,179.19; Hempstead, 



42 HISTOKY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IK ARKANSAS. 

$2,949.77; Independence, $4,399.45; Jackson, $7,022; Jefferson, 
$20,401.42; Johnson, $4,603.97; Lafayette, $2,142.06; Ouachita, 
$10,500; Phillips, $4,223.75; Pope, $3,397.67; Prairie, $4,298.52; 
Randolph, $4,865; Scott, $2,060.11; Sebastian, $6,645.77; Union, 
$21,795.71; Van Buren, $800.60; Washington, $9,228.74; Yell, 
$2,893.1 1 . These sums were made up from three or more sources and 
represented the principal of the school funds which the counties had 
been able to accumulate up to that time. If we assume that all were 
invested in good securities, paying 10 per cent interest, they were still, 
in most cases, utterly inadequate for supporting the necessary schools. 
Curiously enough, these sums seem to bear little relation to the 
amounts which the same report says were expended by the various 
counties. 

Chicot County reported 1 school, with 2 teachers, and a salary 
expenditure of $1,800 per annum. There were 57 children at school. 
Desha reported 2 schools, with 35 children, and a salary account of 
$400 per annum. Jackson County reported 22 free schools, with 500 
children in attendance; salaries, $4,062. Jefferson County reported 
10 schools, with 200 children; salaries for county schools, $1,200; .4 
other teachers, at $30 per month. Ouachita reported 4 schools, with 
141 pupils. Union County expended $732 for common schools. This 
was all in the way of report that the State school commissioner was 
able in his official capacity to coax out of careless, indifferent, and 
negligent school trustees. The school census of 1854 showed that 
there were 61,382 children under 21 years of age, indicating a popula- 
tion of about 40,000 between 6 and 21. 

The report for the next two years (1854-1856) was even more 
discouraging. In it Mr. Greer does not attempt statistics. He says 
reports had been received from about one-half of the counties. These 
were, in nearly every case, vague, inexplicit, and unsatisfactory; 
funds were in a confused condition; debtors to the funds were in 
some cases insolvent; one township on tjie Mississippi River had a 
fund of $20,000 and few children, but this could not be transferred to 
the township in which the children actually lived without violating 
the agreement with the Federal Government. He thought there were 
about 25 common schools in the State, organized and sustained out 
of the common-school fund. "This," he says, "is a discouraging 
commentary upon our 'common school system.' " He acknowledges 
the "almost entire failure successfully to organize and establish com- 
mon schools in Arkansas/' and urged that the sale of school lands 
should be suspended. 

Shinn estimates that in 1854 about 25 per cent of the pupils of 
school age were in the country schools and another 25 per cent in 
the private academies and in schools outside of the State. Gov. 
Elias N. Conway says in his message of 1854 that "good schools for 



PUBLIC-SCHOOL SYSTEM AND STATE LAND FUNDS. 43 

educating the rising generation have been and are being established 
in almost every section of the State/' although he adds in regard to 
the common schools that "for want of adequate means, there are 
few in operation." 

In the report of S. M. Weaver, State school commissioner for 1859- 
60, we have a record of two counties : 

In Crawford County there were 10 schools, 9 male teachers, 1 female. The enumer- 
ation was 2,420. There was received from State funds, $143.30; from county fund, 
$1,431.72, and from township fund, $6,131, making a total of $7,706.02. The average 
wages paid the teachers was $27 per month. Poinsett County reported six school- 
houses and 927 children. The amount expended for common schools was $500, and 
the number of children attending, 80. 

From the public school census of the State for 1860, Shinn reports 
that there were 652 common schools in operation, distributed as 
follows: Arkansas County, 7 ; Benton, 21; Bradley, 15; Crawford, 24; 
Conway, 19; Carroll, 24; Clark, 6; Calhoun, 8; Craighead, 2; Frank- 
lin, 22; Hempstead, 25; Hot Spring, 10; Independence, 21; Izard, 
13; Jefferson, 12; Johnson, 49; Lawrence, 3; Lafayette, 8; Madison, 
22; Mississippi, 2 ; Monroe, 8; Montgomery , 4 ; Newton, 4; Ouachita, 
28; Perry, 8; Phillips, 22; Poinsett, 11; Polk, 9; Pulaski, 13; Ran- 
dolph, 10; Saline, 40; Searcy, 6; Sebastian, 21; Scott, 10; Sevier, 11; 
St. Francis, 15; Union, 29; Washington, 57; White, 29; and Yell, 2. 
Twelve counties are not reported. Some of these were counties 
where public schools had been successfully operated in the years 
immediately preceding 1860, and he estimates that 750 schools for 
the year 1860 would not be far wrong. According to the same 
report, there were 19,242 pupils in attendance. 

Gov. Conway was not discouraged. In his message in 1858 he 
again urges that county courts be allowed to appropriate their poll 
tax to schools if they "choose," and suggests that those "rewards 
and immunities" mentioned in the constitution of 1836 for "the 
promotion and improvement of arts, science, commerce, manu- 
factures, and natural history" be provided for by law. 

In his message of 1860 he points out some of the difficulties and 
weaknesses of the system: 

The seminary and saline funds, when distributed to the several counties * * * 
are placed under the control of the county authorities * * *. The common-school 
fund arising from other sources must be sufficiently large in many of the communities 
to justify the establishement of some free schools. But as the funds and common 
schools are, by law, placed under the control of the county and township officers, 
the executive has not sufficient information * * * to determine whether the fund 
is properly taken care of or not, and sacredly applied, as it should be, toward the edu- 
cation of the children of the county. 1 

To the same session of the assembly (1860) Gov. Henry M. Rector 
reported that out of 55 county common-school commissioners only 

i House Jour., 1860, p. 30. 



44 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ARKANSAS. 

3 had reported to the State school commissioner, ' ' two of which 
reports are totally devoid of the required information." He esti- 
mates that under the law 7,755 men were required " to perform what 
10 would do better." He proposed to take such seminary funds as 
were not already appropriated to the common schools to build two 
colleges, and remarks : 

The common-school system also seems to be radically defective. In the last report 
made by the secretary of state, as State commissioner of common schools, it may be 
seen that there are only 25 common schools organized and kept up in the State from 
the common-school fund. This is a sad commentary upon the present system. 1 

Such were the final official words on the common schools of ante 
bellum Arkansas. The Federal censuses for 1840, 1850, and 1860 
give us a few additional figures which may be added to supplement 
the meager State reports. 

From the Federal census of 1840 we find: 

Academies and grammar schools 8 

Number of scholars „ 300 

Primary and common schools 113 

Number of scholars . . 2, 614 

Number of scholars at public charge None reported. 

Number of white persons over 20 years of age who can not read and write 6, 567 

Number of white persons over 20 years of age in State. 30, 555 

Percentage of illiterate adults 21. 5 

Of the 39 counties comprising the State of Arkansas in 1840, 29 
are reported as having academies, grammar schools, or primary and 
common schools; none, according to this report, being at public 
charge. Thirteen were reported as being in Washington County, 8 
in Carroll, and 7 in Sevier. 

The census of 1850 reports the school attendance as returned by 
families at 23,361. Classified according to the character of the 
institution there were : 

- (1) Three colleges with 14 teachers and 150 pupils, with a total 
annual income of $3,100 derived from miscellaneous, or, as it is called 
in the report, "other sources." 

(2) Ninety "academies and other schools," with 126 teachers and 
2,407 pupils, report a total income from "other sources" of $27,937. 

(3) The public schools reported numbered 353, with 355 teachers 
and 8,493 pupils. These report a total income of $43,763, which was 
divided according to its source: From endowment, $1,720; from tax- 
ation, $250; from public funds, $8,959; from other sources, $32,834. 
Of these 353 schools, 91 are reported as using public funds. From 
eight counties there was no report; two counties report but a single 
school each; two report but 2 each, while Jefferson, Poinsett, Scott, 
and White Counties were reported with 10 schools each; Pope and 
Pulaski with 11 each; Independence, Madison, St. Francis, and 

i House Jour., 1860, p. 102. 



PUBLIC-SCHOOL SYSTEM AND STATE LAND FUNDS. 45 

Sevier, 12; Lawrence, 14; Saline, 20; Carroll, 23; and Washington, 
30. The number of schools, however, bore little relation to the 
income from public funds. Out of 51 counties in the State, only 14 
reported any income from public funds, ranging from $2,006 in 
Ouachita down to $75 in Carroll. But a single county reported any 
school income as derived from taxation. This was $250 in Desha. 
Only two reported any income from endowment, which was $1 ,400 
in Chicot and $320 in Hempstead. 

But, unfortunately, these figures tell little, for the sources of the 
"endowment" fund and of the "public funds" are not known, except 
that they were not derived from taxation, and it is not certain that 
the " other sources" does not include some "public funds." 

As adjuncts to the work of education it may be noted that in 1850 
there were 9 weekly newspapers in Arkansas, with a total yearly circu- 
lation of 377,000 copies. There was one public library containing 
250 volumes and two Sunday-school libraries with 170 volumes. 
In 1860 the public libraries had increased to 102, with 22,210 volumes, 
and the Sunday-school libraries to 13, with 1,011. 

In 1850 there were 65,395 white adults 20 years of age and over in 
the State. Of this number 16,809, or 25.7 per cent could not read or 
write. The census for 1860 reports that these illiterate adults had 
increased to 23,642. It reports the educational resources of the 
State as follows : 

(1) There were 4 colleges, with 9 teachers and 225 pupils. They 
had a total income of $300 from public funds and $5,285 from other 
sources. 

(2) Of academies and other schools there were 109, with 168 
teachers and 4,415 pupils. These reported $6,300 from endowment, 
$700 from taxation, $8,645 from public funds, and $52,501 from other 
sources. 

(3) Of public schools there were 727, with 757 teachers and 19,242 
pupils; they had an income of $200 from endowment, $1,100 from 
taxation, $13,356 from public funds, and $105,957 from other sources. 

In these census tables it is impossible to discover the line of demar- 
cation between what are called "public schools" and what are called 
"academies." The difference represents probably, in part, the style 
of title preferred by the individual giving the information to the 
census taker. According to the report .academies received on an 
average $143 each from endowment and public funds, while the 
public schools received a little more than $20 each from the same 
sources. The average income of the academies from all sources was 
a little over $542, while that of the public schools was a little less 
than $180 each. It will be noted, further, that while, according to 
the Federal census of 1860 the ''academies and other schools" 
received in round numbers 23 per cent of their income from endow- 



46 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ARKANSAS. 

ment, taxation, and public funds, and 77 per cent from "other 
sources," the "public schools" received only 20 per cent from endow- 
ment, taxation, and public funds, and 80 per cent from "other sources." 
In other words, the public schools, from the standpoint of support, 
were less public than the academies, which were confessedly private 
institutions. 

To summarize the conditions affecting the public-school situation 
in Arkansas up to 1861 : 

It is evident that the income from the land funds had accomplished 
little toward universal education in Arkansas. It is equally true 
that much had been accomplished in an educational way, but it was 
mainly through the instrumentality of the private academy sup- 
ported by private endowment and tuition fees. The State, so far 
as it had entered at all into the educational field, performed only 
the duties of administration. The public lands donated for schools 
had been badly managed in the main. They had often been sacri- 
ficed; the money received had sometimes been badly invested, and 
in part lost in the financial panic of 1837 and succeeding years. 
The State still regarded the business of education as private, personal, 
optional, patriarchal, aristocratic, and religious. The consciousness 
of social solidarity had not dawned, and the State felt itself under 
little educational obligation to the rising generation. This was not 
peculiar to Arkansas. It was the spirit of the time. 

The question of taxation as the main source of school support had, 
perhaps, hardly been seriously considered. There had been, how- 
ever, a small income from this source, and that the modern idea was 
dawning is found in the recommendation of the State school com- 
missioner and of the governor in 1854, that the general assembly 
authorize the county court to appropriate the poll tax for school pur- 
poses. But this proposal did not become a law until the promulga- 
tion of the constitution of 1868. 

There had been developed out of the lands donated by the Federal 
Government for school purposes two funds that in part survived the 
risks of war and are to-day of material help to primary education. 
These were: 

(1) The permanent school fund, made up of the proceeds of the 
sales of Government lands other than the sixteenth sections but 
including the seminary and saline lands; proceeds from the sale of 
lands and other property accruing to the State by escheat, or from 
sales of estrays, unclaimed dividends, or unclaimed shares of estates 
of deceased persons, etc. 

(2) The sixteenth-section fund, made up entirely of the proceeds 
of the sale of the sixteenth sections. 

The statistical history of these two funds is given in Chapter IX. 



CHAPTER IV. 
THE MURPHY ADMINISTRATION, 1864-1868. 

" Inter arma leges silent" is a maxim that applies to education even 
more than to law. A short act here and there relating to some phase 
of school administration appears in the legislation of the war period, 
but nothing more. The Confederate government in Arkansas was 
pressed too hard by the Federal authorities to think of education. 
Confederate success in Arkansas was short-lived. Gen. Steele, of the 
Union Army, occupied Little Rock September 10, 1863. From that 
time Little Rock and that part of the State to the north and northeast 
of the river remained under Union control till the end of the war. 
The Confederate State government withdrew to the southwest and 
established its headquarters at Washington, Hempstead County, 
where a session of the legislature was held September 22 to October 2, 
1864. 

With the conquest of the northern half* of the State there came 
comparative quiet, and with it the desire of and necessity for civil 
government. Union meetings were held in Fort Smith, Van Buren, 
and other places, and by a proclamation of President Lincoln, 
December 8, 1863, the inhabitants of this section of the State were 
authorized to renew their allegiance and form a State government. 
The local leader in this movement was Isaac Murphy, a native of 
Pittsburgh, Pa., who had migrated to Arkansas at an early age and 
had for many years practiced law and pedagogy. He had been a 
strong Union man, and had alone voted against the ordinance of 
secession, and to him the people looked for guidance. The conven- 
tion met at Little Rock January 4-23, 1864, and drew up a constitu- 
tion in which they reproduced the educational sections of the consti- 
tution of 1836. 

Isaac Murphy was chosen by the convention provisional governor 
of the reconstructed State and was inaugurated January 20, 1864. 
He was then chosen by popular vote for the four-year term and was 
again inaugurated on April 18, 1864. He found himself representing 
one of two rival governments in the State; there were two armies in 
the field; there was not a dollar in his treasury; indeed all the 
machinery of a State government was in the hands of the Confeder- 
ates, and Murphy's machinery had to be created de novo, but he 
gained many adherents by an offer of pardon to Confederates while 

47 



48 HISTOKY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ABKANSAS. 

the war was yet in progress and many more by liberal interpretation 
of the President's proclamation of pardon after it was over. Taken 
as a whole, his administration was conservative and pacific, and with 
the return of the general peace a period of recuperation began. 

In his message to the Union legislature of 1864 Gov. Murphy states 
that no public schools were then in existence and recommends a 
system of universal education. He says: 

As this is the first session of the legislature of the free State of Arkansas, I trust that 
your honorable body will provide by law that every child in the State shall have an 
opportunity of acquiring a good education, and not only give the opportunity, but 
make the education of the rising generation a duty to the State, to be enforced by 
proper penalties. Ignorance leads to slavery; intelligence to freedom. 1 

A bill to amend the existing school law, introduced May 28, 1864, 
proposed that one-tenth of 1 per cent of the tax on all property be 
kept and paid in as a common-school fund to be used for lands and 
buildings. 2 

• In the house journal there is a long and eloquent report from the 
chairman of the committee on education, in which he presents a 
heavy indictment of the ante bellum management of the school 
lands, the sting of which is not entirely removed even when we make 
ample allowance for partisan bitterness. He says; 

They have mismanaged and* squandered to a great extent the appropriations or 
donations made by the United States to this State for school purposes. * * * We 
have had over 1,000,000 acres of land appropriated in this State to purposes of educa- 
tion, but under the management of our public functionaries it has amounted to almost 
nothing. 

He then urges that a State superintendent of education be appointed 
and that a common-school fund, based on ad valorem taxation of all 
property, be created, but nothing definite was done by this legisla- 
ture. 3 

The first legislative action under the constitution of 1864 was that 
by the assembly of 1866-67, which was so largely made up of Confed- 
erates that it was styled by its enemies the " rebel" legislature. In 
his message to this body, in November, 1866, Gov. Murphy urges the 
establishment of a free-school system based on taxation. He said: 

The people are beginning to feel that ignorance is a crime deeply injurious to the 
peace and happiness of society, for which not only parents, but the government also, 
are responsible. The experience of all enlightened countries has proved that popular 
education can only be diffused through the instrumentality of the government, by 
stringent legal requirements on parents, and furnishing the necessary means to build 
up and sustain schools for all classes. * * * To the intelligence and patriotism of 
the legislature I respectfully refer this urgent and important subject, trusting that 
measures may be adopted to inaugurate a system of public schools that will place our 

i House Jour., 1864, p. 21. 2 Senate Jour., 1864, pp. 180-182. 3 House Jour., 1864, pp. 87-96. 



THE MURPHY ADMINISTRATION, 1864-1868. " 49 

State on an equality with other States in educational facilities. * * * Hereafter, 
if the State has free schools, they must be supported by taxation, as in other States. 1 

In the same month F. R. Earle, sometime teacher and major in 
the Confederate army, college president, and representative of the 
old regime, reported an educational bill in which he condemned the 
old or antebellum system as " wholly inadequate to the work and 
incapable of satisfying the demands of the hour." The bill proposed 
to make education a department by itself and with its own head, the 
basis of support being public taxation. 

It should be remembered that the members of this assembly had 
lived under the ante bellum common-school regime and had seen its 
successes and its shortcomings. They clearly realized that public 
education without public taxation was impossible. On March 18, 
1867, they passed a law which has since become in many respects the 
organic basis of public education in Arkansas. It is particularly 
worthy of note, because it was the work of men who had long been 
residents of the State, had seen service in the Confederate Army, and 
had not been coerced by outside influences. It shows to a remark- 
able degree the capacity of its framers to realize the immense changes 
that had come into southern life as a result of the war, their power to 
divest themselves of the ideas under which they had been reared, and 
their ability to adapt themselves and the organization of their gov- 
ernment to these new conditions. 

The act of March 18, 1867, entitled "An act to establish a common- 
school system in the State," provided: 

That for the purpose of establishing a system of common-school education in this 
State a tax is hereby levied of 20 cents on every $100 worth of the taxable property in 
this State, and shall be collected and paid into the State treasury annually in the same 
manner as now provided by law for the other State taxes: Provided, This tax shall not 
be levied on the property of persons of color. 

The second section prohibited the use of said fund for any other 
purpose than that of common schools. The third section provided 
that all white children between the ages of 6 and 21 should be entitled 
to the provisions of the law. The fourth section provided for the 
election of a superintendent of public instruction by the electors of 
the State, beginning at the general election in 1868, and for an 
appointment by the legislature for the interim. Sections 5, 6, and 7 
prescribed the duties of said officer. Section 8 provided for the elec- 
tion of a county school commissioner in each county at the general 
election of 1868. Sections 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 prescribed the 
general duties of said commissioner, which included the making of 
reports on pupils, salaries, etc., the examining of teachers and grant- 
ing certificates, prorating the county apportionment among the sepa- 

i Senate Jour., 1868, pp. 40-42. 
53733°— 12 4 



50 HISTOBY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ARKANSAS. 

rate schools, etc. Section 15 constituted each congressional township 
a school district. Section 16 enabled any incorporated town to 
become a school district. Section 17 provided for the election of 
three trustees in each school district. Sections 18, 19, and 20 pre- 
scribed the duties of said trustees. Section 21 made the school year 
begin on the 1st day of October. Section 22 provided that if the 
trustees should — 

fail to have a school taught of at least three months' duration in any one year, or the 
president thereof fail to make the annual report as required under this act, said dis- 
trict shall not be entitled to any part of the school funds provided under this act, and 
the common-school commissioner shall proceed to apportion the moneys of the district 
thus failing among the districts which have complied with the requirements of this 
act. 

In accord with the terms of this act the general assembly in joint 
session on March 19, 1867, chose F. K. Earle, then president of Cane 
Hill College, the first superintendent of public instruction in Arkansas. 
He was not, however, allowed to exercise the duties of his office, for 
by a military order of Gen. E. O. C. Ord, in charge of Military District 
No. 4, dated August 9, 1867, the validity of his election was denied 
and "the services of the office," it was declared, "are not needed." 
Prof. Shinn remarks, however, that "many schools were opened under 
the new law." 

The service of this regime, then, was not so much the actual organi- 
zation of schools, but the creation of resources which made the schools 
of the future a possibility. For this service the "rebel" legislature of 
1866-67 and the Union governor, Murphy, deserve to be held in grate- 
ful remembrance by the people of Arkansas. 

This was the end of educational efforts by the Murphy regime. When 
he went out of office on July 2, 1868, he turned over to his recon- 
struction successor $50,500 in United States bonds and $203,923.95 
in United States currency. 1 Furthermore, the State auditor's report 
shows that there was collected under the law of March 18, 1867, on 
account of public schools, and paid into the State treasury, from 
April 25, 1867, to July 2, 1868, inclusive: 

First quarter, 1868 $3,983.51 

Second quarter, 1868 59, 870. 05 

Part of third quarter, ending July 2, 1868 1, 021. 76 

64, 875. 32 

This sum represents the results of the first general taxes ever levied 
in the State of Arkansas for public education. 

i See treasurer's report dated Nov. 23, 1868, pp. 41 and 43. Murphy himself says that he left in the treas- 
ury $122,587. The difference is perhaps due to the deduction of claims chargeable against the general reve- 
nue and may be taken as the net surplus turned over to the new administration. , 



CHAPTER V. 

THE RECONSTRUCTION REGIME, 1868-1874. 

In the meantime Congress had passed the act of March 2, 1867, 
generally known as the reconstruction act. In accord with the 
terms of this act a convention met in Little Rock in January, 1868, 
and adopted a new constitution of which the educational provisions 
are as follows : 

Section 1. A general diffusion of knowledge and intelligence among all classes 
being essential to the preservation of the rights and liberties of the people, the gen- 
eral assembly shall establish and maintain a system of free schools for the gratuitous 
instruction of all persons in this State between the ages of 5 and 21 years, and the 
funds appropriated for the support of common schools shall be distributed to the 
several counties in proportion to the number of children and youths therein between 
the ages of 5 and 21 years, in such manner as shall be prescribed by law; but no 
religious or other sect or sects shall ever have any exclusive right to, or control of 
any part of, the school funds of this State. 

Sec. 2. The supervision of public schools shall be vested in a superintendent of 
public instruction and such other officers as the general assembly may provide. The 
superintendent of public instruction shall receive such salary and perform such 
duties as shall be prescribed by law. 

Sec 3. The general assembly shall establish and maintain a State university, with 
departments for instruction in teaching, in agriculture, and the natural sciences, as 
soon as the public-school fund will permit. 

Sec 4. The proceeds of all lands that have been, or hereafter may be, granted by 
the United States to this State, and not otherwise appropriated by the United States 
or this State; also all mines [moneys], stocks, bonds, lands, and other property now 
belonging to any fund for purposes of education; also the net proceeds of all sales of 
lands and other property and effects that may accrue to this State by escheat, or from 
sales of estrays, or from unclaimed dividends or distributive shares of the estates of 
deceased persons, or from fines, penalties, or forfeitures; also any of the proceeds of 
the sales of public lands which may have been, or hereafter may be, paid over to this 
State (Congress consenting); also the grants, gifts, or devises that may have been, or 
hereafter may be, made to this State, and not otherwise appropriated by the terms of 
the grant, gift, or devise, shall be securely invested and sacredly preserved as a public- 
school fund, which shall be the common property of the State, the annual income 
of which fund, together with $1 per capita, to be annually assessed on every male 
inhabitant of this State over the age of 21 years, and so much of the ordinary annual 
revenue of the State as may be necessary, shall be faithfully appropriated for estab- 
lishing and maintaining the free schools and the university in this article provided 
for, and for no other uses or purposes whatever. 

Sec 7. In case the public-school fund shall be insufficient to sustain a free school 
at least three months in every year in each school district, in this State, the general 
assembly shall provide by law for raising such deficiency by levying such tax upon 
all taxable property in each county, township, or school district as may be deemed 
proper. 

51 



52 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ARKANSAS. 

Sec. 9. Provision shall also be made by general laws for raising such sum or sums 
of money, by taxation or otherwise, in each school district, as may be necessary for 
the building and furnishing of a sufficient number of suitable schoolhouses for the 
accommodation of all the pupils within the limits of the several school districts. 

As will be quickly noticed, this constitution showed the legislative 
tendency which characterized many others of that generation. It 
was prolix and detailed, but it fixed the following progressive features : 

1. The education of all, white and black; other efforts had not 
gone beyond the whites. 

2. The permanent school fund, which in one form or another was 
as old as the State itself. 

3. A general tax for education, which had been inaugurated under 
the former regime. 

4. The poll tax of $1 for public schools. This had been discussed 
in earlier years, but without results. 

5. The principle of local taxation to supplement general funds. 
This feature seems to have been entirely new in Arkansas. 

The fundamental laws under which the educational authorities were 
now to work, had they been enacted under other circumstances and 
enjoyed the support of the best elements of the population, might 
have brought success. 

Prof. Shinn, who may be taken as a representative of the old native 
element, says of the constitution: 

In the main it was an admirable document, and had it been left to the free vote of 
all the citizens might have lived a longer life. The educational law of 1866 was 
retarded, and the measures substituted, although equally broad and comprehensive, 
had to bear the odium of reconstruction. Despite this there was a continuous growth, 
and when the release came there was a bound forward which was remarkable. 

The reconstruction constitution went into effect on April 1, 1868. 
The assembly met on the 2d and remained in session till the 23d of 
July. To this assembly Gov. Murphy said, in his message of April 3 : 

On the subject of education, I will say in addition to what is said in the message 
referred to [that of Nov. 8, 1866], that every child in the State of sane mind should 
receive a thorough American education, be taught the value and uses of freedom, the 
nature of republican government, and the importance of selecting honest and capable 
agents to administer the affairs of the State. In addition to the usual literature of the 
schools, also the great moral and religious principles on which all republican govern- 
ments rest as a safe foundation. Education, morality, and religion, universally dif- 
fused, are the foundation rocks on which freedom must rest to secure its prosperity; 
and on the same basis, prosperity, wealth, and honor are secure of permanent and 
accelerated advancement. 1 

Powell Clayton, the reconstruction successor of Murphy, was 
inaugurated as governor on July 2, 1868. In his inaugural message 
he has a good deal to say on education. He advocated in particular 
that the county superintendent system be abolished and that circuit 

i Senate Jour., 1868, p. 18. 



THE EECONSTKUCTION BEGIME, 1868-18*74. 53 

superintendents be appointed instead. The assembly was com- 
plaisant and on July 23 passed a school law which had many good 
features. Its greatest fault was in the circuit superintendents, and 
this weakness the sponsors of the law soon recognized. Says Prof. 
Shinn : 

Fully one-half of the State fund in 1868 and 1869 was paid to circuit superintendents. 
This feature of the law was especially odious to the people, and the Reconstructionists 
themselves recoiled. In 1871 they repealed the circuit superin tendencies and sub- 
stituted county superintendencies. 1 One can but reflect that had there been money 
and had there been 10 men in the ranks qualified to perform the duties of the office, 
this measure would have added value to the schools. The reports of these officers show 
that they were not adepts in grading, examining, or organizing schools. 

Its greatest feature was perhaps that it devoted the poll tax to the 
public schools — a disposition of those funds which had been urged by 
Gov. E. N. Gonway as early as 1854. Says Prof. Shinn: 

This was an excellent feature in the law. The State and local taxes fell only upon 
property; the poll tax of $1 fell upon every male citizen and made every man a con- 
tributor to the school fund; but the payment of the poll tax was not then nor is it now 
a condition to the enjoyment of school privileges. All children attend the schools 
whether their parents have paid the poll tax or not. Small as is the tax, its payment 
creates a spirit of self-dependence and destroys to a large degree the idea that only 
the rich support the schools. 

A further recognition of the value of this law is found in its 
practical reenactment, with the exception of the provisions for circuit 
superintendents, by the Baxter (conservative) legislature of 1873 
(law of Apr. 29, 1873) and the further fact that it was the basis of 
subsequent school legislation (e. g., law of Dec. 7, 1875). 

The chief characteristics of the law of July 23, 1868, were as follows: 

Sections 1 and 2 defined the common-school fund in the terms above recited in the 
constitution. Sections 3 to 12 created a board of common-school commissioners and 
defined its duties. Sections 13 to 17 prescribed the method of creating school dis- 
tricts. Sections 18 to 22 prescribed the manner in which the people of the districts 
should meet, organize, elect school trustees, and levy local taxes. Sections 23 to 48 
defined the duties of the trustees. Sections 49 to 55 prescribed the qualifications and 
duties of teachers. Section 56 provided for a teachers' institute and cast its expense, 
not exceeding $50, upon the school fund of the county. 

Section 57 provided for the appointment by the governor of a circuit superintendent 
of schools for each judicial circuit of the State and prescribed his duties. Sections 58 
to 73 further defined the duties of the circuit superintendents. They were: (a) To 
examine and license teachers. (6) To require each teacher to take the following oath: 
"I do solemnly swear that I will honestly and faithfully support the constitution and 
laws of the State of Arkansas and that I will encourage all other persons so to do; 
that I will never countenance or aid in the secession of this State from the United 
States; that I will endeavor to inculcate in the minds of youth sentiments of patriotism 
and loyalty and will faithfully and impartially perform the duties of the office of 
teacher according to the best of my ability. So help me God." (c) To hold institutes. 
(d) To visit schools and to see that the laws were enforced, (e) To apportion the 

i This was done by the law of Apr. 29, 1873, not in 1871. 



54 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ARKANSAS. 

school fund. (/) To report to the State superintendent, (g) To number the school 
districts. 

Section 73 provided for the 10 circuit superintendents a salary of $3,000 per annum 
each. Sections 74 to 95 prescribed the duties of the State superintendent. Section 
96 consigns the proceeds of the poll tax to the common-school fund, from which it has 
never since been diverted. Section 107 provided for separate schools for the races. 
This has always remained the law. 

Thomas Smith, who had been a surgeon in the United States Army, 
became first State superintendent under the reconstruction constitu- 
tion. His office was opened August 1, 1868. To him fell the respon- 
sible duty of organizing the public schools of Arkansas for the whole 
people and on the basis of public taxation. His task was not an easy 
one. There was some opposition to be met. There was much igno- 
rance to be enlightened; worse still, there was indifference to be 
quickened. He complains also of the real and palpable difficulty of 
getting properly educated and progressive persons to act as school 
trustees, but bears witness to "the hearty manner in which old citi- 
zens of the State are giving their influence in support of free schools." 
There was difficulty also in the matter of regulating the local taxes. 
In some districts the electors refused to allow a levy by the county 
court, in others the court refused to make the levy voted, while 
"excessive taxes have in some instances been authorized by district 
meetings." The State levy was later fixed by law at 20 cents on the 
hundred and was — 

paid into the State treasury as other taxes, and this, together with the accrued interest 
on the vested school fund and the poll tax [$1], is apportioned to the several counties 
according to the number of children of school age [a violation of the terms of the con- 
gressional grant of the sixteenth sections]. 

To these three sources of income must be added a fourth, the local 
or district tax, the amount of which was optional with the district, 
but which was not to exceed 5 mills on the dollar for country districts 
or 7 J mills in the city districts. (Law of 1871.) 

Dr. Smith's first report, dated November 13, 1868, deals with the 
school situation as it then was under the new law. There was little 
to report beyond the organization of the State and circuit superin- 
tendents into a State board of education in accord with the law. 
The latter was required to put forth all efforts to organize the counties 
into school districts and make enumerations so that the funds might 
be apportioned. Of these it was reported there was $50,000 available 
for school support during that fall and winter " after deducting the 
amount necessary for paying the salaries of the circuit superintend- 
ents." 

The funds reported were: 

On hand July 3, 1868 $64, 875. 32 

Amount received in third quarter 2, 065. 10 

Amount transferred from general revenue 943. 55 

Total - 67,88a 97 



THE KECOHSTRUCTIOK REGIME, 1868-1874. 55 

The schools established by the Freedmen's Bureau were taken 
over and incorporated into the State school system. Substantial 
progress was being made all along the line, but in summarizing the 
situation in his second report, dated December 20, 1870, and covering 
the whole period from July 23, 1868, to September 30, 1870, Supt. 
Smith, falling perhaps into the ways of thought of his educational 
predecessors and ignoring the chronic lack of ready cash, seeks to 
put the onus of failure — certainly in part — on causes other than the 
true one. He says: 

The past educational history of the State clearly proves that the failure to establish 
a practical system of public instruction was not owing to the want of adequate means 
at the disposal of the State for the accomplishment of that object, for the United States 
Government had made munificent grants of land for the support of common schools, 
and the State legislature had passed several acts with a view to the creation of a school 
fund and the establishment of a system of public schools, and yet, for the want of a 
proper cooperation on the part of the people, the whole enterprise proved a lamentable 
failure, and much of the land which was designed for the promotion of education 
in the State was sold, the funds squandered, and the children, whose property it was, 
thus defrauded of their rights. 1 

Great annoyance and inconvenience was felt at this time also by 
the necessity which forced teachers to take their pay in funds more 
or less uncurrent. By an act of 1869 treasurer's certificates, with 
accumulated interest at 8 per cent, were made receivable for State 
dues. They were, of course, paid in for taxes, passed out again as 
a part of the State apportionment for schools, and as such had to be 
received by the teachers in payment for their services. There was 
neither specie nor currency in the State treasury with which to redeem 
this scrip, and it was therefore subjected to a heavy discount for 
cash, in some cases amounting to one-half. Friends of education 
were discouraged; teachers were disheartened, and many left the State; 
school attendance began to fall off; and it was thought that salvation 
could come to the system only through the repeal of the scrip provi- 
sion, because when a little later currency again came into use the door 
for peculation was at once opened. 

Says one of the circuit superintendents, December 1, 1872: 

Improper advantage has been taken by all the collectors of the scrip provision, 
and while in each county a large percentage of the taxes has been paid in currency 
during the year, none of it has ever reached the treasurers of the State or county. 2 

The 10 circuit superintendents, with a salary of $3,000 each, were 
another source of dissatisfaction, for it was thought that too large a 
percentage of the total school income was consumed by them. The 
State superintendent said that some had " accomplished good 
results," while " others, for want of adaptability to the work, or from 
not giving their undivided attention to their duties, have not done 
so well." Then the school attendance began to fall off, and the 

i Superintendent's report, 1869-70, p. 11. 2 School report, 1872, p. 150. 



56 HISTOKY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN AEKANSAS. 

superintendent, perhaps unwittingly, gave what was probably the 
true cause. He says: 

This is doubtless owing to the want of efficiency on the part of circuit superintend- 
ents. Had they given less attention to politics and devoted themselves more fully 
and energetically to traveling over their districts, visiting schools, conferring with 
trustees, talking to the people on the subject of education, and holding teachers' 
institutes in the several counties, the result would have been quite different. 1 

The subsidiary reports for 1871-72 are exceedingly imperfect — 
so imperfect that no just comparison can be made with the years 
that went before, nor with those that followed. The circuit super- 
intendents performed their duties with less regard to accuracy and 
fullness than in previous years. The student is driven inevitably 
to the conclusion that, seeing the coming end of their regime, they 
determined to get as much out of it as possible, financially and other- 
wise, at the least expense of labor to themselves. 

On January 6, 1873, State Supt. Smith was succeeded in office by 
J. C. Corbin, a negro graduate of Oberlin, who came into Arkansas 
with the Federal Army and was now rising to prominence under the 
reconstruction regime. He remained in office till October 30, 1874, 
when the promulgation of the new constitution ended reconstruction 
and restored the native white element to power. 

In his report for the year ending September 30, 1873, and dated 
March 5, 1874, Mr. Corbin finds much of which to complain: The 
constant reports coming to him of inadequate facilities, insufficient 
teaching force, lack of funds, and crowded quarters were modified 
by the cheering news that opposition was dying out. But the aboli- 
tion of the circuit superintendents (act of Apr. 29, 1873) and the 
appointment of county superintendents in their place increased the 
duties of the superintendent's office, while his clerical force and 
appropriations had been lessened. Qualifications of teachers had been 
raised, but progress was seriously handicapped by depreciation of 
the circulating medium. In many districts there were too many 
separate schools. The school funds and the school lands were in a 
deplorable condition. Some of the lands had been sold, payment 
made in part, all records lost in the din of war, and it was no longer 
possible to decide in whom the title vested. 

The tax on the sixteenth section and other school lands had been 
merged for some years in the general fund, while it belonged to the 
schools; county school funds were lumped; the warrants received first 
were paid first; greedy trustees got all, modest ones got nothing; 
some accounts were overdrawn; some districts were bankrupt, others 
had invested more in schoolhouses than they could raise by taxation; 
it was necessary for the school district to levy enough tax to run the 
schools for 3 months before it got any help from the State apportion- 
ment; and the limit of 20 cents on the hundred was too small to meet 

i Report, 1871-72, p. 8. 



57 

these demands. Worse still, taxes paid to the collectors in specie 
and greenbacks were paid into the treasury by these thrifty individ- 
uals in State scrip or school warrants, at immense profit to them- 
selves and at infinite damage to the schools. The teachers, who 
were sometimes employed at what seemed good salaries as teaching 
goes, had to take this uncurrent currency or get nothing, and then 
under force of necessity discount it at ruinous rates. The scrip and 
warrants then floated about the country till they fell into the hands 
of the tax collectors. In June, 1871, only 20 counties out of 61 are 
reported as receiving any United States currency in their apportion- 
ment of school funds; and beyond doubt depreciation, together with 
financial ignorance and mismanagement, to use no broader terms, 
helped to destroy the system. 

To these evils are to be added an interpretation of the school law 
under which the superintendent could no longer apportion the 2-mill 
tax in the usual way. 

The schools had been supported out of three general sources (law 
of Mar. 25, 1871): (1) A State tax of 2 mills; (2) a per capita or 
poll tax; (3) interest on the permanent school fund. 

The attorney general interpreted the law of 1873 to forbid the 
inclusion of the first of these items in the general distribution. This 
delayed the whole apportionment, and up to March 5, 1874, there had 
been apportioned only about $55,000 in scrip and warrants (then 
worth about 35 cents on the dollar and equivalent to $19,000 in cur- 
rency), which was to be divided among 73 counties. It seems safe 
to say that the schools of the reconstruction period literally died of 
starvation. 

' The school authorities had said in 1871 that the system was being 
injured by adverse legislation. It seems that this interpretation of 
the attorney general put a period to the public schools. There were 
no available funds with which to maintain them; their administra- 
tion did not command the support of the better classes of the popu- 
lation; there was much political turmoil, which in April and May, 
1874, developed into what is known locally as the Brooks-Baxter 
war — in reality a struggle between the older conservative element 
and the newer and less experienced reconstruction element. No 
other report on the schools is found till that of Superintendent Hill 
for the year July 1, 1875, to June 30, 1876; so that the period be- 
tween March 5, 1874, and December 7, 1875, may be safely regarded 
as a transitional period. 

But it would be an error to suppose that the reconstruction period 
of public education in Arkansas was without influence. On the con- 
trary, it was fruitful in results. It found that the old ante bellum 
idea of public schools endowed by gifts of public lands had lost its 
hold on the educational leaders among the conservatives who had 
already declared for a system based on public taxation. This idea 



58 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ARKANSAS. 

of public taxation for schools was enacted into law and put into exe- 
cution perhaps more easily by the reconstructionists (radicals) than 
could have been done by the conservatives. 

The leading features fixed in the school system during the Recon- 
struction period were : 

1. The superintendent of public instruction as a separate State 
officer, recommended before the war but never attained. 

2. The education of the whole people, both black and white. 

3. A general State property tax. 

4. A general poll tax, recommended before the war but never 
attained. 

5. Local or special taxes. 

6. Discussion of compulsory education, faint and short-lived, yet a 
beginning. 

7. Professional consciousness and organization as seen in the State 
board of education, teachers' institutes, teachers' associations, State 
and local, and the beginnings of an educational press. 

8. The Arkansas Journal of Education, a monthly, founded and 
edited for at least 3 years (1870-72) by Supt. Thomas Smith, which 
was of service as a medium of communication between teachers and 
the constituted authorities, and is, after the reports of the superin- 
tendent, our main source for the educational history of the period. 
It is of value in particular for the local educational color which it fur- 
nishes. From its pages we are made to realize the difficulties which 
many honest and earnest teachers had to meet and the inadequate 
resources with which they carried on the struggle. It is evident from 
a perusal of its pages that the new educational system had taken no 
vital hold on the life and. thought of the people of the State. But 
this was due in large measure to ignorance and indifference rather 
than to avowed hostility, and the remedy was then, as now, publicity. 

The system did not escape accusation of fraud and embezzlement; 
that there was indirectly much of this on a small scale the leaders of 
that day admitted; but a review of the work of the reconstruction 
period, taken as a whole and in the light of subsequent events, con- 
strain the student to think that they did perhaps more than was to 
have been expected toward laying the foundations of the present suc- 
cessful school system. 

The statistics for the reconstruction period became progressively 
worse and worse. Those for the first two years are fair; for the next 
two poor; and after that they are almost a total blank. This failure 
is perhaps largely due to the circuit superintendents, who did not as 
a body rise to their opportunities, but imperfect as these statistics 
are we are under the necessity of using them for want of better, and 
they will be found in their proper place as a part of the general 
statistical exhibit. 



CHAPTER VI. 
THE RESTORATION OF HOME RULE, 1874-1894. 

Reconstruction in Arkansas practically came to an end on May 
14, 1874, when President Grant by proclamation recognized the 
claim of Elisha Baxter to be the legal governor, at the same time 
commanding his rival Brooks and his followers to disperse. Power 
was thus left in the hands of the Conservatives. The legislature 
asked the people whether a constitutional convention should be 
called. Their reply was an overwhelming affirmative, and the 
convention met in Little Rock on July 14, 1874. The constitution, 
which removed all disfranchisements and registrations, was sub- 
mitted to the people on October 13, 1874. It was accepted by a 
large majority; was officially proclaimed as adopted October 30, 
1874, and has since remained the organic law of the State. The 
office of State superintendent of public instruction was that day 
abolished, for while this position was formally provided for in the 
constitution of 1868 its creation was left by the constitution of 1874 
to the discretion of the legislature. This was in all probability 
intentional, for the reason that J. C. Corbin, the incumbent, was 
persona non grata to the party then in power, although his worth 
and ability were later recognized by that party, for he served the 
State many years after that date as a teacher and educational leader 
of his race. 

Prof. Shinn has marked the progressive educational steps in 
Arkansas up to the return of the Conservatives to power in 1874. 
He says: 

The principal steps in school legislation in Arkansas may be thus summarized: 
(1) The ante bellum law fixed the districts to a large extent. (2) The law of 1866-67 
fixed the system upon a taxed basis, and reached white children. (3) The law of 
1868-69 continued the taxed system, and extended the privileges of the schools to 
all races. (4) The law of 1874-75, and all subsequent legislation, developed and 
perfected the work of the three systems, and added new features. 

The constitution of 1874 has the following sections on education: 

ARTICLE XIV. 

Section 1. Intelligence and virtue being the safeguards of liberty and the bulwark 
of a free and good government, the State shall ever maintain a general, suitable, and 
efficient system of free schools whereby all persons in the State, between the ages of 
6 and 21 years, may receive gratuitous instruction. 

59 



60 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ARKANSAS. 

Sec. 2. No money or property belonging to the public school fund, or to this State 
for the benefit of schools or universities, shall ever be used for any other than for the 
respective purposes to which it belongs. 

Sec 3. The general assembly shall provide by general laws for the support of com- 
mon schools by taxes, which shall never exceed in any one year 2 mills on the dollar 
on the taxable property of the State, and by an annual per capita tax of $1, to be 
assessed on every male inhabitant of this State over the age of 21 years: Provided, 
The general assembly may by general law authorize school districts to levy by a vote 
of the qualified electors of such district a tax not to exceed 5 mills on the dollar in 
any one year for school purposes: Provided further, That no such tax shall be appro- 
priated to any other purpose nor to any other district than that for which it was 
levied. 

Sec 4. The supervision of public schools and the execution of the laws regulating 
the same shall be vested in and confided to such officers as may be provided for by 
the general assembly. 

By the constitution the following features were fixed in the organic 
act: 

1. A mandate to educate all the children of the State. 

2. The inviolability of the school funds; which were denned and 
separated by law into the (1) Common or permanent school fund; 
(2) the sixteenth-section fund. 

3. Uniform State taxes for schools, with an annual poll tax. 

4. Provision for local taxation on demand by the voters and the 
inviolability of the tax so levied. 

5. Making the office of State superintendent depend on the will 
of the legislature instead of fixing it in the organic law as was done 
by the constitution of 1868. 

Little seems to have been done in an educational way from the 
date of Corbin's last report, March 5, 1874, till after the passage 
of the new school law on December 7, 1875, under which the Con- 
servatives began their work. The two school years 1873-74 and 
1874-75 are almost a total blank. There was no head of the school 
system during a part of this time, for the officers of the old regime 
had gone out with the passing of the constitution of 1868. There 
was no formal report for the period; so that all extant knowledge of 
conditions at this time has come through other sources. About 
all that is known is that there was paid out for teachers in 1873-74 
the sum of $65,522.66, and for the year 1874-75 the sum of $40,444.56. 

It seemed best to those in power to let the old system practically 
die and then build anew on the basis of home rule, honest money, 
conservatism in expenditures, and honesty in administration. No 
school law was passed by the first assembly under the new constitu- 
tion. Perhaps sufficient time had not elapsed for the conservative 
element to orient itself to the new conditions of life, so unlike the 
patriarchal ways of the ante bellum period. 

The law of December 7, 1875, repealed and to a large extent 
reenacted the law of April 23, 1873. It differentiated and fixed 



RESTORATION OF HOME RULE, 1874-1894. 61 

the status of the two school funds: (1) The permanent or common 
school fund was made up of all moneys, stocks, bonds, and other 
property then belonging to any fund for the purposes of education, 
escheats, es trays, unclaimed dividends, or distributive shares of 
deceased persons, grants, gifts, devises, 10 per cent of tfre net pro- 
ceeds of the sales of State lands, and proceeds from the sale of all 
other lands except (2) the proceeds from the sixteenth-section lands. 
These two funds thus differentiated were protected by the constitu- 
tion from spoliation, and this provision has come down through 
successive school laws and State digests to the present. 

In the school law of December 7, 1875 — the basis of subsequent 
school legislation — the State superintendent was retained, the 
county superintendent was replaced by a county examiner, and the 
district trustee by three district directors. The duties of each 
remained substantially the same. The first and greatest item was 
revenue. This was provided for in three ways: 

(1) By a general tax of 2 mills on the property of the State, to 
be distributed per capita by the State superintendent to all children 
between the ages of 6 and 21. 

(2) By a poll tax of $1 on each male citizen over 21 years of age, 
to be distributed by the county judge to the school districts in 
proportion to the number of polls in each. 

(3) By a local tax in each district not exceeding 5 mills on the 
dollar, to be determined as to amount by the electors of each district 
each year and to be paid directly to the districts. 

Until the promulgation of the constitution of 1874, the history of 
the public schools in Arkansas is primarily the question of their 
existence at all. Before the Civil War their existence was recog- 
nized mainly in so far as they might be supported out of the income 
of invested funds. During the reconstruction era they won the basis 
of support through public taxation, but suffered the handicap of the 
reconstruction regime. After the incorporation of the public-school 
system into the constitution of 1874 their maintenance was no longer 
to be questioned, nor has there been a break in the historical con- 
tinuity of the office of superintendent. The system has been in the 
hands of the best element of the people of Arkansas and has been 
administered by their representatives in the interests of all. Since 
1875 its policy has been more or less uniform. There has been no 
radical change from one school of thought to another. In the main, 
each superintendent, while emphasizing or developing certain lines 
which more particularly appealed to him, has in general carried out 
the policy of his predecessor. There has been no break; there has 
been historical continuity. It is therefore possible to write the his- 
tory of the last generation of schools in Arkansas as a continuous 



62 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ARKANSAS. 

whole, considering (1) The difficulties in the way, (2) the things 
attempted, (3) the things accomplished and the progress attained. 

The succession of State superintendents since 1875 has been as 
follows : 

George W. Hill, December 18, 1875, to October 13, 1878. 

James L. Denton, October 13, 1878, to October 11, 1882. 

Dunbar H. Pope, October 11, 1882, to October 30, 1882. 

Woodville E. Thompson, October 30, 1882, to October 30, 1890. 

Josiah H. Shinn, October 30, 1890, to October 30, 1894. 

Junius Jordan, October 30, 1894, to September 12, 1898. 

James W. Kuykendall, September 12, 1898, to October 30, 1898. 

J. J. Doyne, October 30, 1898, to October 30, 1902. 

John H. Hinemon, October 30, 1902, to October 30, 1906. 

J. J. Doyne, October 30, 1906, to July 1, 1908. 

George B. Cook, July 1, 1908, to date. 

THE ADMINISTRATION OF GEORGE W. HILL, 1875-1878. 

The first State superintendent under the new law was George W. 
Hill. He was appointed December 18, 1875, and in his first report, 
for the year ending July 1, 1876, he makes a brief but telling resume 
of the educational situation of the State at that time. The main 
burden of this report was the hostility to the school system begotten 
in reconstruction days and the evils of a depreciated currency, con- 
sisting of State and county scrip. He says: 

Called to the office of State superintendent of public instruction in December, 1875, 
by the general assembly, pursuant to an act approved December 7, 1875, entitled 
"An act to maintain a system of free common schools for the State of Arkansas," I 
found the interest of the free education of the youth of the State in not so favorable 
a condition as might be desired. A very powerful force — the depreciation of the 
value of State scrip — had been militating against this interest for about two years 
and temporarily emasculated the whole common-school system. In the wake of a 
depreciated currency, in which teachers were paid and by which schools were 
attempted to be maintained, followed numerous attendant evils. The discourage- 
ment of school officers, an occasion for complaint on the part of enemies to free schools, 
a somewhat reckless incurring of debt, a loss of confidence in the minds of the people, 
and a partial abandonment of free schools by good teachers were all in its multi- 
tudinous train. Under the circumstances most school districts had either to suspend 
their schools or become involved in debt. Some did the former, others the latter. 

For this state of evils there was but one remedy — to be rid of that upas, a depreciated 
currency. Time and the appreciation of treasurer's certificates are accomplishing 
this desired result. The districts generally are getting out of debt and resuming their 
schools. Confidence is being restored to the people, and it is earnestly to be desired 
that the cause of public instruction will in future be kept clear of the breakers of a 
comparatively valueless money. * * * 

During the year past we had but little trouble arising from the maintenance of our 
schools with State scrip, for it had appreciated till it had obtained a very respectable 
value and more than usual reliability. But still, it is far from desirable that our 
schools be maintained by a currency whose value is so easily affected by State legis- 
lation. 



EESTOEATION OF HOME KULE, 1874-1894. 63 

To the successful management of the industries of a people, there is necessary, not 
only a feeling of security of property, but a certainty of return for labor put forth. 
To secure the latter, labor should be paid for in a currency subject to as little fluctua- 
tion as practicable. 

Under existing laws some of the funds going toward the maintenance of our free 
schools are paid in county scrip, which hardly has the same value in any two counties. 
If we can not have all our school funds in United States currency, we ought, at least, 
to have them all in State scrip. 

The fluctuations of scrip, in addition to the direct evil exerted, affect injuriously 
the moral support of our free schools in public sentiment, none of which we can afford 
to lose. We have experienced the great benefits consequent upon the negotiations 
of the honorable finance board for greenbacks, with which to maintain the State 
government; and it would be desirable to have all our governmental interests sup- 
ported by an equally stable currency so soon as practicable. 1 

Besides troubles over the matter of money, the school authorities 
had to make headway against the unpopularity and inefficient char- 
acter of the district normal institutes and against the lack of prepa- 
ration and professional interest on the part of many teachers and 
school officers. There was trouble in particular over the county 
examiner. He was the county head of the system. He was expected 
to hold institutes, examine teachers, grant certificates to teach, visit 
schools, give advice to teachers, and make reports to the superin- 
tendent; yet he was practically unpaid, and it even required a special 
opinion of the attorney general to secure money for the stamps and 
paper of his office. As a natural result it was difficult to find suitable 
men who would accept the position. 

The unit of administration was the school district, and not the 
civil township. This was considered and proved to be too small for 
successful administration. Three local directors in place of one, 
while making the system unwieldy, was still thought to be an improve- 
ment, but it was found that not many electors would attend the 
annual school-district meetings, thus leaving the whole question of 
school management and school taxes in the hands of the designing 
few. 

The whole question of the school lands had been properly trans- 
ferred to the office of the commissioner of State lands; but the sec- 
tion of the act in regard to local taxation was vague and was held 
by the attorney general to make the whole of the district or local tax 
optional, while — 

the statistics presented are very meager. Comparatively few free schools were taught 
during the year ending July 1, 1876; and the statistics collected do not present the 
educational interest of the State as good as it really is. Many trustees failed to report; 
others were not accurate. This fact, of course, vitiates the reports of the county exam- 
iner and State superintendent. 

i Hill's Report for 1875-76, pp. 5-10. 



64 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ARKANSAS. 

The statistics for the year, so far as it was possible for Supt. Hill 
to gather them, were as follows: 

STATISTICS FOR YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1876. 

School population: 

White 106, 352 

Colored 27, 574 

Total (not differentiated in many counties) 189, 130 

School attendance (many counties not reported) 15, 890 

Teachers, total reported 461 

Salaries: 

Male $28, 783. 01 

Female $4, 652. 20 

Total (not differentiated in many counties) $75, 399. 67 

Schoolhouses: 

Erected during year 25 

Cost $3, 957. 12 

Erected before 1, 374 

Cost (not value) $361, 358. 37 

Revenue: 

State apportionment $105, 586. 70 

District (i. e., local) tax 87, 739. 51 

Sale of schoolhouses, sites, etc 444. 64 

Grants and gifts 674. 99 

194, 445. 84 

Expenditures: 

Teachers' wages 1 73, 166. 67 

Schoolhouses, etc 10, 838. 61 

Repairs 2, 567. 07 

Total 119, 403. 20 

Unexpended 10, 576. 56 

Notwithstanding this poor showing the superintendent was not 
discouraged. He said, in conclusion: 

"There is light ahead " for our common-school system. This is no groundless asser- 
tion. It is based upon assurances from all parts of the State of growing intelligence, 
of an increasing spirit of inquiry, of awakening appreciation of education, of lessening 
hostility to free schools, of the waning indifference of the people to the efforts of the 
State in behalf of education, of an enlarging number of friends and advocates of com- 
mon schools, of a more earnest call for teachers of higher qualifications, of more agita- 
tion of the public mind on the free-school question, of a greater disposition on the 
part of the State press to speak in advocacy of common schools, and of better county 
and district officers being elected. It is based upon the established confidence in the 
Government, upon the peace and quiet prevailing in the State, upon the greater degree 
of industry and enterprise now apparent within our borders, upon the increase of our 
population through intelligent immigration, upon increased facilities of communica- 
tion with other States, upon the gradual diffusion at home and abroad of a" knowledge 
of our natural advantages, upon the influence of the example of other States, and 
upon the spirit of the age. 1 

i Hill's report for 1875-76, p. 20. 



EESTOKATION OF HOME EULE, 1874-1894. 65 

In the years 1876-77 and 1877-78 treasurer's warrants and State 
and county scrip were still an ever-present but decreasing source of 
trouble to the school authorities. As the State administration got 
more firmly fixed this extraordinary currency tended to rise to par ? 
and with its rise the question of its use disappeared. By 1885 it 
was worth its face value. 

Other difficulties were the ignorance of both teachers and patrons ; 
the school sessions were short, schools were small, the attendance 
was small and irregular, even when reckoned on the slight per cent 
of enrollment; there was still at that time some lack of harmony 
between the public and the private schools ; and, finally, many were 
saying that the law had too much of the may and too little of the 
shall. To this last criticism the superintendent replies : 1 

The cry is, let all the school tax, or at least a larger proportion of it, be levied and col- 
lected by the State. Take our educational matters out of the hands of the districts. 
Make a strong law. Put more of the shall element and less of the may in it. The 
effect of such a course would be beneficial at first, but ultimately might be injurious. 
In the incipiency of a free-school system, while it is unappreciated, while the people 
care nothing about it, there is certainly more necessity for centralizing the force and 
authority pertaining to it than when it has been thoroughly established and has grown 
up in the affections of the people. But there is a limit beyond which, if centraliza- 
tion be carried, the public sentiment, the molder of the destinies of republican govern- 
ments, will rebel so strongly as to defeat the object in view. The problem of wise 
legislation is to ascertain the golden mean between too much and too little centraliza- 
tion. 

Even at that time there was complaint that the constitutional limit 
of 5 mills for the local tax district was too small to secure the best 
results, but not for years was any serious effort to be made to raise 
the limit. There was encouragement in the fact that while the local 
district tax was optional and was to be voted every year, a steadily 
increasing number of districts saw its importance. 

There was a growing demand for better teachers, with the result 
that teachers' institutes were better attended, normal schools were 
organized, and the better classes of the population came more and 
more to depend on the public instead of the private schools. The 
State Teachers' Association was growing in strength, professional 
class consciousness began to appear, and with it more of cooperation. 

The State superintendent gave much of his time to traveling 
throughout the State in interest of the schools. This personal work 
consisted of public addresses, private discussions, the holding of 
teachers' institutes, and writing for newspapers on educational 
subjects. 

The State reports are to a large extent exponents of the educational 
situation. The tone and trend of the time can be realized easily. 

i Report for 1877-78, pp. 19, 20. 
53733°— 12 5 



66 HISTOKY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN AKKANSAS. 

In the earlier ones there is much of rhetoric and rhapsody, containing, 
nevertheless, words of exhortation, of suggestion, of ambitious desires, 
of ideals and hopes yet unattained. By degrees these characteristics 
pass, and their place is taken by longer and longer statements of 
work actually accomplished and of growing plans for future progress. 
Mr. Hill summarizes the general situation at the close of his admin- 
istration in the following cheerful words: 1 

It is gratifying in presenting this, my third annual report, to record marked edu- 
cational progress. There are many evidences of this progress, some of which, in 
addition to the statistics which accompany this report, I give in detail: 

1. There has been quite an increase in the number of districts which have voted 
the 5-mill tax. 

2. There is a more general demand for better teachers. 

3. There is a disposition to agitate, to say the least, the matter of popular educa- 
tion. Our people are talking about, writing about, thinking about the subject. It 
is discoursed upon by our political leaders and speakers. It is discussed by our con- 
ventions called together to consider measures for the public good. It is exposed to 
public view in our newspapers. It is a frequent topic of conversation around the 
hearthstone. This thought, this intellectual gestation of our educational interest, is 
what we desire. The result of the parturition can not be other than wholesome. 
Education by the State has nothing to lose, but much to gain, from investigation. 
Let thought and research, then, bring their brightest torches to its examination. 

4. More interest has been shown in the annual district school meetings. There 
has been a larger attendance of the electors at these meetings. A smaller number 
of districts have failed to hold these meetings and do the annual work of the districts. 
A closer conformity to law has marked the conduct of these annual meetings. Elec- 
tors have been more interested in the character of their district officers. 

5. Electors in school districts, beginning to realize that "eternal vigilance is the 
price of liberty, " and also the price of a wise management of the educational interests 
of their district, have been more watchful in regard to the acts of their educational 
officers. Neglect of official duty has had less chance to sleep undisturbed. Unwise 
expenditures of school funds have been less frequent. 

6. In addition to the greater faithfulness of educational officers secured by the 
watchful eye of public sentiment there has been increased efficiency in office, 
from the fact that educational officers have perceived more clearly the responsibili- 
ties of their position. They have felt more sensibly the weight of the obligations 
resting upon them. To this clearer perception of their responsibilities they have 
been helped by the activity of public thought in regard to education, their own 
minds being infected with the excitement which has seized upon the minds of others. 

7. The reports from directors and county examiners have been not only fuller, 
but more promptly made. Some few reports from county examiners were received 
even before the time prescribed by law. These facts evince a healthful condition of 
affairs and augur better things for the future. 

8. More reliance is placed upon our free schools for the education of the youth of 
the State. There has not been so much need of subscription schools as heretofore. 
Our free schools are more generally patronized by the so-called "better class" of citi- 
zens. Prejudice on the ground that the free school is socially too democratic, that it 
occasions too promiscuous a mixture of the various classes of society is waning. Our 
free schools are being recognized as the peers in efficiency of private schools, main- 
tained by an equal expenditure of means. Indeed, in many cases — as in Little Rock, 
Pine Bluff, Helena, and other places — they are greatly superior. 

i Report for 1877-78, pp. 6-7. 



KESTOKATION OF HOME EULE, 1874-1894. 67 

ADMINISTRATIONS OF JAMES L. DENTON AND DUNBAR H. POPE, 

1878-1882. 

The successor of Mr. Hill was James L. Denton. Of him one of his 
successors in the office of State superintendent, Prof. Josiah H. Shinn, 
has said: 

Mr. Denton believed in the efficacy of public education. He was a master of 
platform oratory, traveled over much of the State, and was always greeted with large 
audiences. His influence over the people was very great, and he used it for the 
advancement of the public schools. The people no longer looked to the general tax 
for means to carry on their schools, but voted the local tax as an auxiliary. Opposi- 
tion to free schools grew weaker, and more systematic efforts were adopted by the 
people. 

His immediate successor, Hon. W. E. Thompson, said of him: 

By his eloquent and impassioned appeals he removed in a great measure southern 
prejudice against free schools, and to him more than any other individual is the 
State of Arkansas indebted for the increased popularity of our free schools. 

During this period city school systems began to be organized in the 
larger towns and the superintendent takes up the problem of the 
ungraded schools. Until now this problem had hardly been touched 
in the more thickly populated centers, much less in the country dis- 
tricts. An outline course of study sent out by Gen. John Eaton, then 
United States Commissioner of Education, was printed with direc- 
tions and suggestions, and the question of textbooks, with the accom- 
panying question whether there should be a State or county or other 
adoption, was discussed. In August, 1880, the superintendent recom- 
mended a uniform series of textbooks, which was gradually adopted 
by the local school boards. It included Swinton's Word Primer, 
Word Book, and Word Analysis, in spelling; Appleton's readers; 
Webster's dictionaries; Goodman's Patent Model Copy-Books; 
Quackenbos's History of the United States; Swinton's General 
History; Quackenbos's Illustrated Lessons in our Language, and his 
English Grammar; Hart's English Literature; Cornell's Geography; 
Ray's Arithmetic and Algebra; Schuyler's Geometry; Harkness's 
Latin Series; Hart's Rhetoric; Schuyler's Logic; Bryant and Strat- 
ton's Bookkeeping; Townsend's Civil Government; Chapin's Political 
Economy; Wells's Natural Philosophy; Steele's Botany, Physiology, 
Chemistry, Astronomy, and Geology. As aids to the teacher in 
professional self-development he recommended Jewell's School 
Government; Ogden's Science of Education and his Art of Teaching; 
Heilman's History of Pedagogy; Northend's Teacher and Parent, 
and his Teacher's Assistant; Wickersham's School Economy; Page's 
Theory and Practice of Teaching; Swinton's Rambles among Words. 
Trench's Study of Words ; R. G. White's Words and their Uses. 



68 HISTOKY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ABKANSAS. 

The work of the county examiners was not satisfactory, nor could 
it be under the situation of affairs, and there was great diversity of 
opinion on the question of local tax. Some districts were willing to 
vote more than the constitutional limit of 5 mills. But experiences 
like those of Perryville had made others so wary that they refused to 
vote any special tax whatsoever, for in reconstruction times Perry- 
ville had a school for 10 months which cost so much money that it 
took the district 8 years to pay out. Perhaps the most striking fea- 
tures in the situation were the growing confidence of the people in 
the honesty of the public officers, and the realization of these officers 
of administration that the system still suffered from grave weaknesses. 

Soon there began to appear reports of better schoolhouses and 
longer terms, of better teachers and better attendance, of disappear- 
ing apathy and opposition, of more special-tax districts, and of 
"rapid and substantial progress." 

In a review of the work accomplished to that date Supt. Denton 
writes, in the report for 1878-1880 (pp. 70-71), in a style, florid and 
rhetorical, it is true, but one filled with the pathos of high ideals : 

In considering this question it should never be forgotten that the fabric of public 
schools was founded on the ashes and ruins of that melancholy period. * * * 
Bankruptcy, repugnance to the system, * * * reckless mismanagement of school 
affairs, * * * the asperities naturally engendered by a great revolution, the 
political commotion and dreadful friction that attended reconstruction, together with 
the dubious future of the country, environed the infant cause. * * * The war 
broke the South financially, but it also broke the torpor of the public mind in regard 
to the supreme question of universal education. * * * It underscored and 
emphasized the transcendent importance and overshadowing supremacy of the 
kingdom of ideas. * * * In spite of every adverse influence, however, there has 
been steady progress during the last 12 years. In spite of crushing disappointments, 
exorbitant taxation, and scarcity of revenues, the wheels of progress have quickened 
their revolutions. Resistance has ceased to be dangerous. The people have accepted 
accomplished facts. The tone of leading newspapers and orators is positive and 
encouraging. Public apathy is retreating before clearer light and broader views, and 
popular education is receiving a more enthusiastic support. The condition of the 
country is favorable. 

During the period of Mr. Denton's superintendency the progress of 
schools was encouraged and helped by the publication of the Arkansas 
School Journal, which was first issued at Little Rock in November, 
1880, by J. R. Withers, a teacher who had come into Arkansas from 
Indiana. After his return home the editorial management was 
assumed by Mr. Denton himself and remained in his hands till his 
death. With the passing of his enthusiastic 1 support its direction was 
assumed by J. Kellogg, who changed its name to Kellogg's Eclectic 
Monthly and Educational Journal, making it more general in scope 
and character of contents, but after an experience of seven months in 
its new r61e it was suspended, and the educational system was again 
left without a journalistic leader. 



RESTORATION OF HOME EULE, 1874-1894. 69 

During the period of its existence, covering the time between 
November, 1880, and July, 1883, the Journal was of no little value in 
advancing education, but it does not appear that it was well patronized 
by the teachers as a whole or that its pages were as extensively used 
by them as was desirable. The Journal did its part; its selections 
were suggestive, but few teachers availed themselves of the oppor- 
tunity of its pages, and its preaching was no doubt much better than 
their practice. 

ADMINISTRATION OF WOODVILLE E. THOMPSON, 1882-1890. 

Mr. Denton died in office and his unexpired term was filled out by 
Dunbar H. Pope. The latter was succeeded by Woodville E. Thomp- 
son, who served for the eight years between 1882 and 1890. 

During his incumbency the main features discussed in the reports 
are the assistance derived from the Peabody Fund with arguments in 
favor of national aid to education ; the growing importance of the 
newly organized city school systems; the need of a revision of the 
existing school law, and a more careful collection of the State poll 
tax. There were still many complaints of imperfect reports, but the 
interest in the schools when measured by the amount of money the 
people were willing to vote for its support was steadily increasing. 

The cry now changes from opposition to indifference — a change 
more deadly in character but yet more easily overcome. The system 
was recognized on all sides to be too decentralized, and there was 
pressing need for a more efficient and better paid local administration. 
But along with these older and narrower difficulties comes a discus- 
sion of newer and broader problems like free textbooks, the consolida- 
tion of schools, and even compulsory attendance. The great need 
was always for more efficient and better paid county and local offi- 
cers. These were often ignorant and frequently careless, and this 
statement applies not only to the county examiners and district 
directors, who were practically unpaid, but also to the county treas- 
urers, who failed often to report county school funds, and when not 
failing were often so careless as to count the principal of the county 
sixteenth section fund as a part of their annual receipts. 

The question of attendance was also a serious one. The people 
were not ready for a compulsory law, and yet it cost practically as 
much to educate the average per cent of pupils in attendance as it 
would have cost to educate the pupils enrolled. It was suggested 
that one-half the school fund be apportioned on the basis of enroll- 
ment, the other half on that of attendance. The question of school 
libraries and of teachers' certificates becomes more important; there 
is a growing tendency to appeal to the people of Arkansas by the 
example of other States, and it is remarkably true that the feeling of 
smug complacency is not often to be seen. 



70 HISTOEY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN AKKANSAS. 

In concluding his report for his last year of service Mr. Thompson 
says : 

An examination of these reports will show that the public school system is being 
improved from year to year, but that there is an urgent demand for some radical changes 
to be made before any very great advancement can be perceptible. After eight 
years' work for the common schools of the State I am thoroughly satisfied that the 
changes and amendments herein recommended call for the careful consideration of 
the general assembly. The collected statistics which have been presented are by no 
means satisfactory. For instance, the report for 1890 shows an enrollment over 10,000 
less than that of 1889. Were this the real case, the correct inference would be that 
our schools are not doing what we have a right to demand of them; but an examination 
of the reports from each of our 75 county examiners readily shows the cause of this 
falling off to be the failure of directors to meet their requirements, and it will never 
be improved so long as we have so many school directors receiving no compensation 
for their work. Far better have town supervision and a salaried agent or agents to 
control the county schools. The reports of the wages paid teachers, number of teach- 
ers, number of schoolhouses, etc., give no idea of the true financial condition of our 
counties; on the contrary, they tend to mislead the public. The amounts of revenue 
collected and expended are the only correct data we have been able to command from 
the reports and statements which go to represent what we are doing for the cause of 
popular education. / 

ADMINISTRATION OF JOSIAH H. SHINN, 1890-1894. 

To the mind of the present writer, Prof. Shinn is the real protago- 
nist of primary education in Arkansas, the real educational statesman 
who was the first to see that the State had reached the limits of devel- 
opment with the means at command and in his official capacity to 
declare for a higher tax rate. Mr. Shinn had been a lifelong teacher. 
He believed that the public schools not only had a mission, but that 
their totality of work was of greater value to mankind than was that 
of the higher institutions. He argued that inasmuch as 96 per cent 
of all the children of the State would receive all their school education 
in the public primary and high schools these schools should be made 
better. 

To do this he set about to inspire a love for better teaching. Insti- 
tutes were held more frequently and for longer terms. Regular 
programs were prepared and expert teachers employed. To the 
legislature he said: 

The school population is 36 per cent of the entire population in 1890. If this school 
population be sorted it will quite naturally divide itself into a class pursuing 
elementary studies, another pursuing higher studies, and still another the collegiate 
studies. The elementary studies will comprise as a rule all students between the 
ages of 6 and 15, the high school between 15 and 18, and the collegiate from 18 upward. 
Of course these lines cross each other in various ways, but the general classification 
holds good. From most careful estimates it is found that rather more than 96 per 
cent of the school population are pursuing elementary studies, rather more than 3 per 
cent are pursuing higher studies, and rather less than 1 per cent are in proper collegiate 
studies. The percentages for the United States are 94.2 per cent elementary, 4.9 per 
cent higher, and 0.9 per cent collegiate. Elementary instruction is understood to 



RESTORATION OF HOME RULE, 18T4-1894. 71 

include the "primary" and "grammar" grades. Of the whole school population the 
public schools enrolled about 97 per cent, while the private schools and colleges en- 
rolled less than 3 per cent. In the whole country, according to the report of the United 
States Commissioner, there were 13,726,574 children of all grades enrolled in 1888-89. 
Of these, 12,325,411, or 89.8 per cent, were enrolled in schools or institutions under 
public management, and 1,401,163, or 10.2 per cent, in schools and institutions under 
private management. The public-school spirit in Arkansas is far above the average 
for the whole country. In a properly devised scheme of education the elementary 
course should terminate at the thirteenth year of child life and include about 20 per 
cent of the school population; the secondary period will terminate at 17 and include 
about 8 per cent of the population; while the superior will terminate at 21 and include 
6 per cent. Applying these estimates to the whole number of enrolled children, there 
should be 148,240 enrolled in elementary work, 59,296 in secondary work, and 44,472 
in superior work. The actual classification will show that there are not far from 
240,000 in elementary work, 8,000 in secondary work, and 2,000 in superior work. 
That is to say, about 100,000 are doing elementary work that in a model system would 
be engaged elsewhere; there are 50,000 children enrolled in our schools doing elemen- 
tary work whose ages under a better system would warrant their receiving secondary 
instruction, and who are debarred from it by the bad classification of the earlier school 
years, the bad teaching of the same time, the bad regulations as to attendance, and the 
opposition to secondary instruction in free schools. The case is still worse when we 
consider the collegiate side of the question. There are 44,000 children from 17 to 21 
years of age to receive superior instruction. The most liberal estimate that I can form 
is that less than 2,500 children of the State are in proper collegiate studies. The rule 
for the whole country is that six-sevenths of those entitled to secondary instruction 
never receive it, and that thirty thirty-firsts of those eligible in age for superior instruc- 
tion never enter college. 

While we are keeping step with the whole country we are far behind many of the 
older communities in strong secondary and superior schools; and our care should be 
to so manipulate the elementary course as to create better future possibilities for the 
secondary and superior. This can be done by constantly raising the grade of instruc- 
tion in the elementary schools. To do this we need better teachers, better classifica- 
tion, county supervision, graded institutes, normal schools, manual training schools, 
garden schools, kindergarten training. 

He then asked the legislature for an appropriation to establish 6 three-months normal 
schools in addition to the regular county institutes. That body gave him $2,000 per 
annum in 1891 for two years, and increased it to $3,000 in 1893. With this and other 
money he not only kept up the three-months district normal schools, but established 
and maintained 3 State normal schools for one year and 2 for three years, with a regular 
3 years' course of study for nine months of each year. The schedules and schemes 
of study covered a period of three years in orthography, reading, mental and written 
arithmetic, penmanship, English grammar, geography, history, algebra, geometry, phys- 
ics, rhetoric, mental philosophy, Latin, Anglo-Saxon, the Constitution of the United 
States and of the State of Arkansas, civics, natural history, United States land surveys, 
school mangement, pedagogy, psychology, and history of education. The attendance 
was more than 300 for the full time, with 33 graduates. The schedules for the three- 
months schools embraced a comprehensive study of the common branches, with a 
shorter study of methods. Over 800 teachers attended these schools each year, the 
number in 1894 reaching 1,423. Teachers who had gained the most success as teachers 
of high and graded schools throughout the State were chosen as instructors for these 
short-term schools. The county institute work under the supervision of the county 
examiners was also greatly stimulated. From 76 in 1891 there were 165 held in 1894, 
the attendance being at that time 4,254. 



72 HISTOEY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN AEKANSAS. 

The law required the State superintendent to prepare questions for the examina- 
tion of teachers four times each year, but this had fallen into disuse. From and after 
1891, for four years, these uniform examinations were regularly and persistently held. 
At first considerable opposition was aroused, but it was not long before their influence 
upon the teaching class became manifest and they are now one of the most approved 
features of the State's educational system. The real qualifications of teachers were 
unquestionably advanced. Schedules and schemes for the grading of country and 
town schools were prepared and urged upon school officers. The result was a wider 
grading and classification than had before existed. 

In order that the high school work should be more thoroughly systematized, and 
that a certain uniformity and continuity of study should be maintained, Prof. Shinn 
advised the State Teachers' Association in 1891 to adopt, through its high-school 
department, a regular course of study. A committee appointed by that association 
adopted and recommended a scheme of studies to the high schools of the State 
which was generally adopted as a minimum. 

Prof. Shinn also took the position that, since the university asserted itself to be the 
head of the public school system, this assertion threw upon it the onus of ascertaining 
and accrediting every high school in the State whose course of study and system of 
teaching led to collegiate entrance. 

The legislature of 1893 authorized the State superintendent to make an exhibit 
of the State's educational enterprises at the World's Columbian Exposition. Thirty- 
two schools prepared exhibits of more than 400 bound volumes of pupil work and over 
3,000 specimens of map drawing and botanical work. Eight hundred photographs 
showed exterior and interior views of Arkansas schools. Forty large administrative 
charts exhibited the legal status of the State's system. Dr. Buisson, delegate from 
the French ministry of public education, cut at random a hundred pages from the child 
work of the various schools, to be reproduced in facsimile in a work for French schools. 
Dr. Yambe, of the University of Japan, at Tokyo, made the plan of this exhibit the 
basis of his official report. Awards were made to the public schools of Little Rock, 
Batesville, Arkadelphia, Malvern, Morrillton, Hot Springs, Fort Smith, Pine Bluff, 
Lonoke, Russell ville, Helena, Eureka Springs, and Jonesboro. Awards were also 
granted to the State. 1 

In summarizing his work at the end of his four years of adminis- 
tration, in 1894, he says: 

Looking backward over the 20 years the system has been in operation, we find 
much that authorizes our people to rank themselves as leaders in systematic provision, 
intelligent original legislation, honest expenditure, comprehensive plan, and energetic, 
thoroughgoing work. 

We began the work with a bankrupt State and a disheartened population. Civil 
war had desolated our homes and depleted our treasury; reconstruction had driven 
us to madness and swept away the little that war had left. Debt — overpowering, 
grinding debt — was the chief legacy of the after- war period; the reconstruction era, 
though clad in peaceful garb, was far more voracious and destructive than had been 
the armed period of war. 

Both State and counties were overwhelmed with debt, and all enterprises felt its 
deadening influences. 

To me it is a remarkable fact that out of this sea of passion, strife, and bad feeling our 
people were able and willing to formulate the prudent and wise statutes which brought 
the free school into permanent and vigorous form. And if there can be anything more 
remarkable than this great mental phenomenon, it is the wonderful recuperative 
power of our people. In 20 years of honest, capable government we have not only 
regained all that we had of taxed wealth before the war, but have almost doubled it. 

> See Shinn's History of Education in Arkansas, pp. 63-57, from which these paragraphs are condensed. 



RESTORATION OF HOME RULE, 1874-1894. 73 

At the very beginning our legislation upon educational questions was characterized 
by liberality and wisdom. 

A State levy of 2 mills on the dollar was legalized for per capita distribution through- 
out the State; a poll tax was added for county distribution, while every district was 
permitted to levy and collect an additional sum,not exceeding 5 mills on the dollar, 
for home use. Thus our legislators, although disturbed by the great questions of poli- 
tics then prevalent, seized the three best means adopted by any State for the raising of 
revenue, wisely giving the greatest freedom of action to the district, in this manner 
emphasizing the value of home rule, home development, and home taxation. 

Through 20 years the system has lived with almost no amendment. From a few 
schoolhouses scattered here and there, poorly equipped and supplied, we have reached 
a plane where 6,000 schoolhouses, well equipped, are in existence, and to which 
400,000 children go for about all the school instruction they ever receive. The system 
started in the thraldom of after-war times, but because of its wise and conservative 
tendencies it grew with suprising rapidity. It was then an experiment, hedged all 
around by the doubts of both leaders and followers. It has long since passed the 
experimental state and is now a fixed part of the State's polity. It has won friends 
everywhere, and is to-day more deeply grounded in the affections of the whole people 
than any other department of government. It has grown because it met a demand for 
the widest dissemination of the principles that underlie virtue and foster intelligence 
in order that citizens may be the better prepared to understand and maintain the 
rights, duties, and obligations of suffrage government. 

The backward look is a real basis for honest pride to every citizen of the State. 
Every energy has been bent by the majority of the people to force the system to yield 
a proper fruit. Money has been voted so generally that we have reached the limit 
of our right. Teachers have been required by inexorable public opinion to improve 
themselves. The result is, as stated before, we have now reached the maximum 
worth of public education under our revenue limitations. * * * 

All that could be done 20 years ago was done. But conditions have changed. 
Gloom has given place to glory, despair to hope. If we now are to equal the men then, 
we must act as vigorously and wisely under more generous conditions as did they under 
a harsher environment. * * * Technical education in some form has gone into 
every public school side by side with the old literary forms. Technical education is a 
common solution for many of the industrial problems of the age. Its value is equal to 
the literary form, and conforms much more adequately to demands of the mass. If 
we are to take high rank upon industrial questions, we must conform our public sys- 
tems to the technical demands of the problem. But under existing revenue limita- 
tions we can not adequately meet the world form of literary demands, to say nothing 
of the technical requirements. The really great question of educational statesman- 
ship is the immediate removal of the limitation upon local taxation. Give the people 
more freedom in their localities, so that they may the more easily and surely adjust 
themselves to the demands of their environment. It is no burden to a locality already 
satisfied with local legislation to permit another locality to use its own means untram- 
meled and without limitations. Absolute freedom to the district is the perfection 
of home rule. 1 

i Shinn: Report as Superintendent of Public Instruction, 1893-94, pp. 7-10. 



CHAPTER VII. 
THE PRESENT ERA, 1894-1912. 

ADMINISTRATIONS OF JUNIUS JORDAN AND J. W. KUYKENDALL, 

1894-1898 

The successor of Prof. Shinn was Junius Jordan. In his first 
biennial report, that for 1894-95 and 1895-96, he reviews the main 
features of the school system and points out their defects. He was 
quick to note improvements and to trace them to their source, but 
he was not disposed to claim that relative perfection had been 
attained. He says: 

It is a noteworthy fact that while property values have materially decreased, taxes 
for the support of schools have been uniformly maintained . This is a marked evidence 
that our people are alive and progressive in the cause of education * * *. 

It is gratifying to note that there is an increased efficiency and power in our teachers, 
and that by the acquisition of new methods, through the instrumentality of our county 
normals, the standards of school work and the system of grading have been advanced 
and improved. 

While this condition of affairs is very encouraging, we must not say that we have 
arrived at a point where we can afford to relax our energies or curtail our expenditures. 
It is a mistake to suppose that our school system is as effective in all its bearings as in 
those States that were never estopped in their progressive features by the calamities 
of war and the disasters of misgovernment and of financial depression. They have 
better schoolhouses, more thoroughly provided with apparatus, libraries, and devices 
and aids for teachers and pupils. The rural schools are too generally carried on 
in inferior buildings, many unworthy of the name or the cause for which they 
stand * * *. 

We must urge on our people to give more earnest attention to the improvement of 
schoolrooms and school grounds. Especially is this important in the country districts. 
It is wisdom to build houses first, strongly, comfortably, and with a view to inside 
equipments. 

He reports that the expansion and growth of the system had so 
increased the duties of the superintendent's office that he was nearly 
overwhelmed with routine detail and had little time for supervision 
in the broader sense. This is the burden of both his biennial reports. 

It was still felt to be necessary to argue in behalf of the county 
normal schools, which had been established in 1895. They had 
given general satisfaction to the teachers; they had helped to create 
professional consciousness and pride; they had either improved the 
poor teacher or driven him out of business; they had raised the 
standard of teaching, for during the first year (1895) as many as 
89 per cent of the teachers had been in attendance in the 75 white 
and 17 negro normal schools. This average was reduced to 87 per 
cent in 1896, but the general opinion was that the normal schools, 
74 



THE PRESENT EEA, 1894-1912. 75 

taken as a whole, had been much more successful than in the first 
year. And yet it was found necessary to enter into a long argument 
in the report to meet the specious pleas of demagogues that normal 
schools were class legislation. These schools lasted one month, 
were given in substantially every county, were intended to show 
how to teach grammar, history, geography, reading, arithmetic, 
algebra, physiology, spelling, psychology, school management, pen- 
manship, and civil government, while a "special professional course" 
was outlined for further study. The main argument in behalf of 
these local, decentralized county normal schools was that they 
reached the great body of teachers at a minimum cost, a work which 
State normal schools could not do. The total expense per year was 
only $10,000. 

The same difficulties which earlier officers had faced in general 
administration and not conquered were again to the front, and rea- 
sons for changes were urged. The district directors were pronounced 
an incumbrance, because they were for the most part ignorant, 
indifferent, delinquent, or neglectful; the district system was said 
to be obsolete and inadequate; a new system, based on the civil 
township, was urged as furnishing better material for directors, a 
more even distribution of funds and better equalization of oppor- 
tunity. In .the same way and for the same reason — general ineffi- 
ciency — the county examiner was condemned. It was thought that 
either his powers and pay should be increased or that his place 
should be taken by a county superintendent. 

It was still felt to be necessary to argue in behalf of the need and 
importance of the expansion and development of the rural school, 
but it was possible to report in general a larger enrollment and better^ 
attendance. Uniform grading was being attained, but uniform text- 
books had not commended themselves to the superintendent. 

Mr. Jordan's reports, when taken as a whole, may be characterized 
as of the missionary sort, whose chief function was to arouse to action 
gather than as a quiet survey of triumphant progress. 

ADMINISTRATION OF J. J. DOYNE, 1898-1902. 

The next superintendent in the fine of succession was J. J. Doyne. 
After four years of good work the county normal schools were dis- 
continued by the failure of the legislature of 1899 to provide the 
necessary funds. An attempt was made to cover their work by the 
Peabody Institutes in 1899 and 1900, but these were not numerous 
enough, the term was not long enough, and the attendance was not 
sufficiently distributed to cover the whole field, and inasmuch as the 
State had failed to do her part the Peabody trustees withdrew their 
support from the institutes in 1900. At the regular and more formal 
educational meetings the attendance was poor. 



76 HISTORY OP PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ARKANSAS. 

There were, however, signs of progress along certain lines. Special 
or single school districts were meeting with favor and were producing 
good results; a permissive law was passed in 1899 allowing county 
uniformity in textbooks, of which 43 counties availed themselves; 
the beginnings of school libraries were being laid — extra-legal per- 
haps, but nevertheless serving a useful purpose — while consolidation 
and transportation were more boldly discussed. The main features 
urged were the establishment of normal schools and the creation of 
the office of county superintendent. 

ADMINISTRATIONS OF JOHN H. HINEMON (1902-1906) AND J. J. DOYNE 

(1906-1908). 

The next superintendent was aggressive, progressive, and virile; 
he was not awed by opposition, did not truckle to popular prejudice, 
and assumed that the public-school system was a necessity and that 
its permanence was already assured, an assumption that had not 
always been evident in former* reports. He argued aggressively 
that the constitutional tax limit should be raised from 2 mills to 5 
and that it be extended in the districts from a maximum of 5 mills 
to 10, for "the highest rate now allowed by law is eagerly voted by 
the electors each year, but the result is wholly inadequate." 

The people of Arkansas, whatever shortcomings they may show, 
have been thoroughly honest with themselves; they have never 
tried to deceive themselves; they are not in the habit of claiming 
that their system is better than it is or that it is better than that of 
other States; they have boldly and honestly sought to know the true 
situation, regardless of their relative rank; they have never com- 
forted themselves with the flattering unction that their system was 
already the best that could be devised and therefore needed no 
improvement. On the other hand, their educational leaders have 
called things by their true names; they have recognized their short- 
comings, their blunders, their failures, their injustice to themselves, 
and with steadiness of purpose — sometimes exceedingly slow, it is 
true, but none the less sure — they have sought to amend the errors 
of earlier days and to lay broad and deep the foundations of a school 
system that shall grow and develop with the increasing strength and 
power of the Slate. 

In the opening of his report Mr. Hinemon reviews the situation: 
In the biennial period from 1902 to 1904 the school population had 
increased by 22,065; the school property had increased in value by 
$454,080; the amount paid to teachers had increased by $167,997, 
and the average amount expended per child had increased from 
$3.82 to $4.33. But to the aggressive leaders of the State the situ- 
ation was not satisfactory. Hon. W. H. Arnold, president of the 
Texarkana School Board, reviews the situation in a public address, 



THE PKESENT ERA, 1894-1912. 77 

which is reproduced in the superintendent's report. Mr. Arnold says 
in part: 

Arkansas must reclaim itself from the stigma upon its good name, and follow the 
lead of those who have turned on the light. We have tried the cheap, untrained 
teacher and have placed our State at the foot of the class of States. In the cause of 
education we stand at the bottom, or dangerously near, no matter how the States 
are grouped or classified in respect to the length of school terms, the amount expended 
per pupil, average daily attendance, in salaries paid, and in providing the means of 
training teachers. * * * 

It is most singular that the subject of education is not receiving from public offi- 
cials of the State and candidates for office that consideration its importance demands. 
On the other hand, it seems to have been a favorite diversion to boast of our free 
school system, to advise the masses that we are in the lead, that the public fund for 
school purposes now being collected is ample, and that anyone who would advise 
to the contrary is a public enemy. Such boasts can be actuated only by the purest 
demagogy or ignorance. The facts are to the contrary. We have nothing to boast 
of, but the opportunity for the greatest development and educational prosperity is 
with us. * * * 

It is a mistake to believe that the people are afraid of sufficient taxation to build 
up our common schools, and those who invest their capital want to place it among 
enlightened people and are willing to attribute [sic] their part of the burden. They 
realize that their investment will then be safe and fairly treated by the courts of 
the country, and the legislative and executive departments. Those who get the 
greatest benefit from school taxes pay the least taxes. 

We need more money. We must not depend upon philanthropists to educate us. 
Millions are being donated year by year by those who have it to give away, but nothing 
is given to the indigent or slothful. We really do not need help, except from our own 
people, who are prosperous and amply able to give it. Let the facts be known and 
the honest, industrious people of this State will revolutionize our school system, and it 
is astonishing how few know our educational poverty. The greatest trouble has been 
the want of publicity. * * * 

The western division of States are our strong competitors for first-class new settlers. 
The average salaries paid to teachers in those States is $59.80 per month; in Arkansas. 
$34.46. The average money spent per pupil is $31.59 in those States; in Arkansas, 
$7.41. The average number of days taught in those States, 143.9 days; in Arkansas, 
91.5 days. * * * 

The fact that the bar association of Arkansas, in discussing the lethargy of State 
development, attributed our backwardness to the inefficiency of our free school sys- 
tem, deserves unusual notice. If the system is inefficient, the whole State should 
be alarmed, because we rely almost exclusively upon our free schools to form the 
character of our children and fit them for the duties of life. 

Our special school districts have been able to secure the passage of laws of great 
benefit, which are not enjoyed in other parts of the State. Why have those advan- 
tages been denied to the balance of the State, where the great majority of the school- 
population is to be found? 1 

i According to the Report of the State Superintendent for 1905-6 there were then special school dis- 
tricts as follows: 

Number named 161 

Number that made no report 43 

Number reporting 118 

Number of buildings 245 

Value of buildings $1, 912. 300 

Value of furniture, etc $144, 955 

Number of white teachers 906 

Number of colored teachers 221 

Number of white pupils enrolled 47, 746 

Number of colored pupils enrolled 14, 957 



78 HISTOKY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ARKANSAS. 

It is not from design, but because no well-formulated plan has been presented with 
the necessary persistence to the legislature, or the people are not informed on public- 
school conditions. When one proposes a reform, he ought to lead the way. * * * 

To secure an efficient school system we must have additional educated and trained 
teachers, longer school terms, better schoolhouses and apparatus, and get rid of the 
cheap teacher, but this requires more money. * * * j 

The highest rate now allowed by law is eagerly voted by the electors each year, 
but the result is wholly inadequate. 

Should we not aspire at least to the average of other States? We must more than 
double our revenue to reach the average as to salaries paid, length of school term, 
and funds paid out per capita for each child attending school. 

This address indicates that the people of the State were now coming 
to realize more clearly the school situation and to discuss its problems. 

A State course of study was adopted by the legislature of 1903 and 
tended to unify teaching ; the law for examining and licensing teach- 
ing was improved; institutes took the place of the earlier normal 
schools as far as possible, and the scope of their courses was broad- 
ening; the study of elementary agriculture was being discussed; the 
school term had increased from about 3 to a little more than 4 months. 
The State Teachers' Association said their needs were: County super- 
vision, county and State normal schools, and more money to be 
obtained through a better assessment law. 

During this administration the Louisiana Purchase Exposition was 
held at St. Louis, where a creditable exhibit of the educational work 
of Arkansas was made. 

In 1904 a committee of 10 was appointed by the Arkansas Teachers' 
Association to consider the condition of the rural schools. In Decem- 
ber, 1905, they made a sensible and virile report, in which it was 
pointed out that the main defects of the schools came through (1) a 
lack of revenue, which produced marked differences in the length of 
the school term; (2) a lack of efficiency through a useless multiplica- 
tion of school districts. It recommended (1) a larger taxing unit, as 
the township instead of the school district; (2) a renewal or extension 
of the constitutional limit on the right of taxation; (3) consolidation 
and transportation. 

In the report for 1905-6 the superintendent shows that there was 
in general a steady growth. During the two years covered there had 
been built 602 new schoolhouses, at a cost of $766,683.39, while the 
amount paid for teachers' salaries had increased $185,225.89, and the 
average expenditure per child had gone from $4.33 to $4.93. The 
decrease in length of school term from 93 to 81 days was due to the 
large sums spent in building and showed "the utter inadequacy of 
the present revenue." 

Persistent discussion of the revenue problem at last brought reward. 
By a resolution of March 2, 1905, the assembly submitted a constitu- 
tional amendment to the people on the question of modifying the 
limitation on the voting of school taxes. The vote was taken in Sep- 



THE PKESENT EEA, 1894-1912. 79 

tember, 1906, and resulted in 92,969 for amendment, with 47,368 
against it. In 9 counties only was there a majority against the 
amendment; in some the majority in its favor was as 8 to 1. 

In accord with the terms of this amendment the act of April 17, 
1907, raised the limit of taxation for the State from 2 to 3 mills v and 
for the districts from 5 to 7 mills. 

Viewed chronologically the development of the taxing clause has 
been as follows: 

1867. The law levied a 2-mill tax on whites. 

1868. The constitution fixed no limit of taxation and included 
both races. 

1874. The constitution fixed a limit of 2 mills for general taxation 
and 5 mills in the districts. 

1907. The constitutional amendment raised these limits to 3 and 
7 mills, respectively. 

By act of May 14, 1907, the legislature made an initial appropria- 
tion of $15,000 as a beginning of the much-hoped-for and long-delayed 
normal school. Its location was fixed at Conway, in Faulkner County. 
Building was begun. J. J. Doyne, sometime State superintendent, 
was elected president, and the first session opened September 21, 1908. 
The enrollment for the first term was 105. A faculty of eight was 
chosen, the foundations of a library laid, and a course covering four 
years outlined, in which pedagogy and practical instruction in agri- 
culture were more particularly emphasized. The school received an 
offer of $10,000 from the Peabody fund to assist in the organization 
of an agricultural high school. This was accepted by the legislature 
of 1909, and the fund was applied to the establishment of a model 
farm. 

Another triumph won in the legislature of 1907 had been urged 
for years by the State superintendent and teachers . This was the 
law providing for a county superintendent. This office, although it 
existed before the Civil War, had fallen into disrepute during recon- 
struction days and was counted an unnecessary expense, and the 
county examiner was substituted. The provisions for this office were 
never satisfactory to the teachers. Important duties were assigned 
to the office by law, and all county examiners had to pass a prelimi- 
nary test before appointment; but from "the papers of some ap- 
pointees it may be readily concluded that the judges have not exer- 
cised prudence in naming persons for this office.' ' The act of May 27, 
1907, abolished the position of county examiner and created that of 
county superintendent in its place. The office is elective, and each 
county decides for itself for or against county supervision. No per- 
son is eligible who has not taught for at least 24 months in the county 
within the last 5 years and who does not hold a first-grade certificate 
or similar license. His duties are to hold quarterly examinations of 



80 HISTOEY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN AEKANSAS. 

teachers, grant licenses, keep accounts with the districts, and record 
all contracts, furnish plans for new houses, keep records of sums voted 
for school purposes, approve warrants, receive reports, prepare courses 
of study, hold county and district institutes and a normal institute 
in April, May, and June, and make annual reports on the condition 
of schools. He must keep an office at the county seat and devote all 
of his time to school work. His salary ranges from $600 to $1,200, 
and is paid out of the county common school fund. 

ADMINISTRATION OF GEORGE B. COOK, 1908 TO DATE. 

Entering upon the work of numerous zealous and devoted prede- 
cessors, Mr. Cook found the condition of the public schools in Arkansas 
rapidly improving. He had the boldness to show the people, by 
means of graphic representation, where their State stood in compari- 
son with others. Basing his graphs on the Report of the United 
States Commissioner of Education for 1906-7, he showed that Arkan- 
sas ranked as follows : 

Rank. 

In school population 24 

In the valuation of all property 31 

In length of the school year 47 

In amount raised per school capita 42 

In number of teachers 23 

In teachers' average monthly wages 23 

In number of white, adult, native, male literates 38 

In amount of school property 36 

In school expenditures 29 

He then presented statistics to show the progress of the year 1908 
over 1907, which were extremely encouraging: 

School statistics, 1907-8. 



1907 



1908 



School enumeration (6-21) 

Amount of State apportionment 

Per capita apportionment 

Total school expenditure, State and local, per capita for school population 

Enrollment 

Average daily attendance 

New buildings 

Cost 

Total value buildings and sites 

Total value of equipment 



533,556 


544,519 


$677,707.00 


$1,018,250.53 


$1.27 


$1.87 


$4.52 


$4.64 


340, 182 


366, 054 


220, 621 


232,670 


267 


307 


8448, 100. 00 


$754,716.00 


1,565,813.32 


$4, m, 462. 72 


$472,814.00 


$685, 394. 00 



There was a change going on also, both in the character of the 
information imparted in the schools and the purposes for which that 
information was secured. Says the superintendent: 

No longer are the public schools looked upon as merely the supply houses for stored 
book knowledge, but these schools are expected to train the youth for citizenship and life 
work. 



81 

At last the schools were beginning to make good; they were begin- 
ning to justify their right to exist; they were training for citizenship 
and life; and the people, who are quick to realize such things, were 
coming more fully and more cheerfully to their support. 

This reflex was quickly shown in the available resources of the 
schools for 1909, which Mr. Cook reports as follows: 

Summary of school statistics of Arkansas, 1909. 

Assessed valuation of all property $327, 023, 552 

Real estate $218, 424, 886 

Personal property 108, 598, 666 

Revenues for support of public schools, 1909 $4, 363, 830. 37 

Balance from 1908, to district accounts $1, 122, 425. 60 

State apportionment, 1909 1, 014, 591. 76 

Local taxation and other sources 2, 226, 813. 01 

Expenditures for support of public schools for year ending June 30, 

1909 $3, 110, 164. 60 

Balance on hand June 30, 1909 1, 253, 665. 77 

Appropriations by general assembly for biennial term 1909-10: 

University of Arkansas $220, 915 

Agricultural Experiment Station 39, 400 

State Normal School 95, 900 

Blind School .' 62, 040 

Deaf-Mute School 130, 146 

Reform School 26, 505 

Branch Normal (colored) 11, 600 

Four agricultural schools 160, 000 

Sources of school revenues: 

State — Three-mill tax. Interest on permanent school fund. Sale of sixteenth sec- 
tions. Fines. 
Local — Seven-mill tax. Poll tax and penalties. 

Permanent school fund (3 per cent State bonds) $1, 134, 500. 00 

Total value of school property $6, 067, 342. 60 

Number of school buildings 6, 008 

Number of school buildings erected during 1909 299 

Value of new buildings $452, 167. 30 

School population (6 to 21) 557, 468 

Enrollment in the public schools 374, 154 

Average daily attendance 243, 232 

Enrollment in private and denominational schools 4, 619 

Number of schools taught 7, 819 

Number of days taught 768, 228 

Average length of term (93.9 in 1908) 98.2 days. 

Number of teachers employed 9, 164 

Number of institutes held 117 

Number of teachers attending institutes 8, 965 

Average monthly salary for teachers $55. 77 

53733°— 12 6 



82 HISTOKY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ARKANSAS. 

The leaven of years of agitation, the devotion of teachers and of 
enlightened citizens, the efforts of local school officers; the addresses 
and published articles of State superintendents now began to bear 
fruit in legislative action. The student of the future may yet pro- 
nounce the Arkansas Assembly of 1909 more enlightened and states- 
manlike than any of its predecessors. It began consideration of 
problems of compulsory attendance, agricultural schools, and con- 
solidation. 

Two compulsory attendance acts were passed. The first, to be 
effective in 31 counties, provided that all children between 8 and 16 
years of age should attend school "not less than one-half of the 
entire time" the public school was in session, unless equal instruction 
was provided elsewhere; children between 16 and 20 were subjected 
to similar requirements unless " actively and regularly and lawfully 
engaged in some useful employment or service." Children without 
sufficient clothing, or mentally or physically incapacitated, or further 
than 2 \ miles from the schoolhouse, or whose labor "is absolutely 
necessary for the support of the family," or who had completed the 
seventh grade, might be excused; but if unable to furnish them- 
selves with books, they might be supplied by the school board. 
Truant officers with necessary authority were to be appointed, and 
cities of over 10,000 might establish truant schools. No pupil within 
the prescribed age limits was to be employed, under penalty of fine, 
during school hours in any business or other enterprise without a 
certificate that the law had been complied with. Forty- three counties 
were exempted from this act. 

A similar act was made to apply to nine counties, including four ex- 
empted from the first law. The second act was essentially the same as 
the first, except that the limit was 8 to 14 years instead of .8 to 16; chil- 
dren 14 to 16 must be sent to school if not regularly employed, while 
those from 16 to 20 are not mentioned, and it was required that the 
eighth grade be finished before exemption rather than the seventh. 

Two acts were passed in regard to agriculture which must be of 
far-reaching significance. One of these required the teaching of 
elementary agriculture and horticulture in the schools. The other 
showed that the legislators who made this requirement were not 
ignorant of the obligations it placed on the teachers, for the sum of 
$160,000 was provided for the establishment and maintenance of 
four "public schools," in which there were to be taught agriculture, 
horticulture, and textile manufacturing. 

The beginning of consolidation of rural schools was provided for 
by an act which allows the patrons of any rural territory to petition 
the county court for the organization of a special or single school 
district having all the rights and privileges previously allowed only 
to schools in incorporated towns and cities. 






83 

The assembly of 1911, like that of 1909, was a very progressive 
body. Supt. Cook says "it will be regarded as the great educational 
legislature." It passed no less than 13 general, progressive, and con- 
structive educational acts. The more important of these were 
directed toward consolidation, compulsory attendance, the creation 
of high schools, and of a State board of education. 

The consolidation act provided that any two or more districts 
might vote on the question, and, if the proposal carry, the consolidated 
school district was endowed with the powers belonging to the special 
school district so far as they were applicable. The directors had 
the right to borrow money, if authorized to do so by special vote, 
and might provide transportation for pupils when advisable. 

An act of April 7, 1911, provided for the election of directors in 
the special or single school districts organized under the act of 1909, 
recognized them as rural special school districts, and gave authority 
to vote to borrow money for building purposes. 

A new compulsory attendance law reenacted the law of 1909 with 
certain modifications, including the omission of the sections regulating 
the employment of children of school age in business occupations 
during school hours. Forty-one counties were excepted from the 
provisions of this act. 

The county superintendent's act was so amended as to require him 
to conduct a five days' institute in June, instead of the longer insti- 
tute from April to June, and there was a small increase in salary. 

Another act provided for the distribution of three-fourths of the 
money annually received from the Federal Government on account 
of the forest reserves of the State for the use of the public schools of 
the respective counties. 

Chapter 431 creates a State board of education. It is composed 
of the State superintendent of public instruction and one member 
from each congressional district to be appointed by the governor. 
They were to have the management and investment of the common 
school fund (permanent school fund) ; they were to recover by pro- 
cess of law all moneys due the fund; they were also to control the 
chartering of all educational institutions, regulate them, and, if need 
be, revoke charters; to grant State license; and have general super- 
vision of the public schools of the State, elementary, graded, and high; 
but they can not control textbooks. Prof. B. W. Torreyson has been 
made secretary. 

This assembly also took up the question of public high schools. 
Up to 1911 no particular attention had been given to and no pro- 
vision made for that part of the school population. At first the 
high school had not been considered even a part of the public school 
system ; later this idea was outgrown and, it was recognized that the 
directors acting under the original school law of 1869 had power to 



84 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ARKANSAS. 

establish primary or "other schools of a higher grade or grades." 
But since the law used the term as synonymous with graded schools, 
its real purpose was obscure and such high schools as were organized 
owed their existence to local initiative and not to the legal and formal 
encouragement of the State. 

In an address delivered in 1899 Prof. J. H. Reynolds says: 

Perhaps there are a half dozen real high schools in our cities of the first class, while 
there are quite a number of would-be high schools struggling for existence in our 
towns. * * * Excellent as are some of these schools, they are few, and the great 
mass of the people remain untouched by the high school. 

It seems that at that time only the special school districts had so 
much as the legal right to tax themselves for the support of such 
schools. The result of this neglect was the following showing for 
high schools in 1910-11 : 

Number of four-year high schools reporting 31 

Number of three-year high schools reporting 48 

Number of two-year high schools reporting 31 

Total '. 110 

Number employing 4 or more teachers 15 

Number employing 3 or more teachers 20 

Number employing 2 or more teachers 43 

Number employing 1 or more teachers 32 

Teachers giving all time to high-school work 174 

Teachers giving part time to high-school work 79 

Number of weeks in school term in — 

One school 12 

Two schools 24 

Eleven schools 28 

Forty-five schools 32 

Fifty-eight schools 36 

Two schools - ,..-.... 38 

Number of pupils enrolled 5, 914 

Number graduating — 

On 14-unit basis 348 

On 12-unit basis 252 

These figures include all schools offering three and four years of 
high-school work, and with one or two exceptions all of those offering 
two. A few of those offering four years were not provided with 
teaching force and equipment for more than three years, while a 
large per cent of those offering three years could not teach effectively 
over two years of high-school work. Further, about two-thirds of 
those enrolled in the four-year schools were located in nine of the 
larger towns, while practically none of the strong schools offering 
four-year courses got pupils from the rural districts. This meant 



THE PKESENT EKA, 1894-1912. 85 

that the rural districts were practically without high-school advan- 
tages. 1 

This state of affairs was one of the first things to attract the atten- 
tion of the Arkansas education commission. They made a careful 
study of the situation, gathered the experiences of other States, and 
published a vigorous bulletin in which they say: 

Arkansas has no sufficient law governing high schools, has never dealt seriously 
with the problem, and as a result has but few high schools. 

The public high school is essential to the life of the public school system. It is 
democratic; it is the college of the people; it makes for economic efficiency. It 
multiplies the productive power of the people and prepares its students for a better 
solution of the most important meat and bread problem. It transforms the com- 
munity into a center of culture and refinement and raises intellectual and moral 
standards. It prepares for citizenship and is the key to the solution of the rural 
school question. It vitalizes the country school by setting before them a high stand- 
ard of efficiency and by providing for them well-trained teachers. It, with other 
factors, promises to make country life more attractive and to stop the flow of popu- 
lation to the cities. 2 

The result of this agitation was the law of 1911, which provides 
for (Act No. 328) a State high-school board, consisting of the super- 
intendent of public instruction, the president of the University of 
Arkansas, and a city school superintendent or high-school principal, 
to be chosen by the governor. Its main duty was to classify the 
high schools and establish a normal department in those having a 
four-year course; on the organization of a State board of education 
its authority and duties were to be transferred to the new organization. 

All pupils of high-school age aud all common-school teachers of 
any age may take advantage of the high-school courses in their own 
county without cost. Students from counties without high schools 
may have these advantages by payment of a small fee, which is to 
come out of the common-school fund of the district to which they 
belong. 

Under the law no State aid can be given to high schools in towns 
with over 3,500 population, or with fewer than 25 high-school pupils, 
and in case of rural schools, 15 pupils. State funds can be used for 
teachers only and may be granted only where an equal amount is 
raised by the local district, and no school may receive more than 
$1,000 per year for high-school development and normal training. 

For the high schools $40,000 was appropriated, and for normal 
training in the high schools, $10,000. 

This act became a law May 30, 1911. It is as yet too early to 
obtain much in the way of significant statistics, but Prof. Torreyson, 

who has accomplished much in correlating courses and in unifying 

________ ,j 

1 See report in Arkansas School Journal by Prof. B. W. Torreyson; Bulletin No. 2 of the Arkansas 
Education Commission, and State Supt. Cook's Report for 1909-10, pp. 14-15. 

2 Arkansas Education Commission: State aid to high schools, Bulletin No. 2. 



86 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ARKANSAS. 

systems, summarizes, in the Arkansas School Journal for March, 1912, 
the results at the end of the first session, as follows: 

The last legislature authorized an apportionment of $50,000 a year from the school 
funds to be applied by the State board of education in aiding high schools, provided 
the high schools met the requirements of the State board and opened their doors 
without tuition to all pupils of the respective counties and to all public-school teachers. 
Aid has been granted this school year to 11 high schools to establish normal-training 
departments; to 19 four-year schools, to 26 three-year schools, and to 38 two-year 
schools; 94 in all. The total enrollment in the State high schools at the close of the 
first term was 6,325, of whom 1,174 were pupils from outside the districts and 315 are 
taking the normal-training courses preparatory to becoming teachers. 

There are 62 district high schools in addition to the 94 State high schools. The 
total high-school enrollment for last year was 6,482, whereas the enrollment for this 
year is more than one-third greater, and there are nearly as many pupils in the State 
high schools as attended all high schools last year. 

In order that the schools might meet the requirements, $30,000 in property has been 
donated to the schools this school year and $24,070 contributed to the school funds in 
money by the individuals. Again, the schools have been thus stimulated to expend 
in laboratory equipment and libraries $12,411. 

The tuition of the 1, 174 outside pupils who are being given high-school advantages 
would amount to more than the total portion of the State aid fund which would have 
come from the common-school districts, thus giving to them without direct cost the 
advantages of 315 persons professionally prepared for teaching. 

State aid has within one term strengthened the entire school system, placed standard 
high schools in many small communities, brought high-school advantages within the 
reach of nearly every pupil in the State, caused donations in money and property 
greater than the total amount of the State aid apportioned, the high-school enrollment 
has been increased one-third, a fixed standard has thus been established for the first 
time for the completion of the common-school course, and a decided advance has been 
made, through the normal departments in the aided high schools, in solving the 
problem of supplying trained teachers for rural schools. 
Statistically expressed, these figures are as follows: 

Number of schools giving normal training _. 11 

Number four-year schools 19 

Number three-year schools 26 

Number two-year schools 38 

Total number schools 94 

Total enrollment 6, 325 

Number pupils enrolled from outside districts 1, 174 

Number normal-training students 315 

Amount expended for laboratory equipment (44 schools) $10, 010 

Amount expended for library equipment (52 schools) $2, 401 

Value of property donated to districts $30, 500 

Amount donated for maintenance, etc $24, 070 

Total amount expended to meet requirements $66, 981 

Total enrollment in all high schools last year 6, 482 

Enrollment, 50 district high schools out of 62 2 } 480 

Enrollment, State high schools 6, 325 

Estimated total enrollment 8, 811 

Estimated increase this year 2, 329 

Percentage of increase 35. 9 



THE PEESESTT ERA, 1894-1912. 87 

The teachers' association has taken up the question of the articu- 
lation of the State high schools with the higher institutions, and at 
their annual meeting in December last recommended: 

(a) That the high-school course should include a greater number 
of subjects than at present, but that the individual pupil should not 
be required to carry so many studies. 

(b) That the quantitative requirement for graduation should be 
15 units instead of 16. 

(c) That every high-school course should include 3 units in English, 
1 unit of social science, including history, and 1 of natural science. 

(d) That every high-school course should include two majors of 
those [three?] units each, one of which should be English, and at least 
two minors of 2 units each. 

(e) The requirement in mathematics and foreign language should 
not exceed 2 units in mathematics and 2 units of language other than 
English. 

(f) Of the total of 15 units, not less than 11 should consist of 
English, foreign language, mathematics, social science, including 
history, natural science, or other work conducted by recitations and 
home study. 

(g) The other 4 units should be left for additional academic work 
or for work in mechanical arts, household science, commercial work, 
or such other work as the needs of the student seem to require. 

(h) That colleges be urged to adopt these standards for admission 
of secondary students to college. 

(i) The practice of admitting students to college loaded with con- 
ditions which they are required to work off while carrying a college 
course is not approved. 

The teachers, recognizing further the principle that the educational 
efficiency of the State is measured by the average efficiency of the 
whole teaching force, are doing everything possible to advance and 
develop the normal and educational training schools, and by analogy 
applying the same reasoning to the general affairs of life, declare that: 

Without in any way desiring to weaken the old courses of study which have for their 
purpose the giving of culture to the individual, this association indorses the movement 
to make both the elementary and high-school courses in our schools more democratic 
by the introduction of agriculture, manual training, home economics, training in com- 
mercial transactions, and the establishment of pupils' savings banks and teaching of 
current history, in order to prepare pupils to meet existing commercial and industrial 
conditions and correlate the school with life. 1 

1 Proceedings, Arkansas Teachers' Association, 1911, pp. 27-28. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
THE ORGANIZATION OF CITY SCHOOL SYSTEMS. 

It is a commonplace of history that the cities during the middle 
ages, just as they had been in the time of the ancient world, were the 
centers from which came progress and liberty. While the country 
districts were besotted with ignorance and were almost helpless to 
improve themselves, the cities in both the ancient and medieval 
world were growing rich through trade and commerce. As they grew 
stronger, became more acquainted, worked out a better organization 
through their guilds and felt the power that comes from union, they 
began to make more and greater demands on their overlord. He, 
seeing their growing wealth and conscious power, was generally ready 
to compound the service he demanded for money and instead of annual 
payments was sometimes willing to accept a lump payment and give 
a promise under oath to lighten their particular burdens in the future. 
Oftentimes the overlord forgot to keep his promises; frequently he 
would fulfill them only under the pressure of armed force; but taking 
one generation with another there was a general leveling up, and, 
the cities leading, there was progress toward intelligence and liberty. 

It was so in the development of public schools in Arkansas. The 
earliest progress was made in the cities; from these centers of school 
industry it is permeating the State. 

The first city school systems in Arkansas were organized under the 
act of February 4, 1869. This act provided that any incorporated 
city or town, and the territory annexed for school purposes, might 
be organized as a single school district by calling a special election 
and choosing 6 directors. The duties of these directors were defined. 
They were to decide the number of primary and higher schools 
needed; fix the salary of teachers and the number of months the 
schools were to be taught, which was to be "not less than 3 nor 
more than 10 months;" estimate the amount of all other expenses 
and, after deducting what was due the district from the State appor- 
tionment and from invested funds, levy a tax to cover the remainder. 
Mindful of the disordered state of finances at that time, the law 
wisely provided that "cash or United States currency only" should 
be received in payment of this school tax. The law was even retro- 
active to the extent of providing that all districts organizing prior 
to March 1, 1869, might collect this tax for the school year 1868-69. 
88 



OKGANIZATION OF CITY SCHOOL SYSTEMS. 89 

Provision was also made for consolidation when the majority of 
voters of any contiguous territory and the board of directors of the 
single district should so petition. Like other schools, the single 
district school was under the general direction of the State and circuit 
superintendents, and this excellent law, with slight modifications, is 
the basis of the city school systems of the present time. 

LITTLE ROCK SCHOOLS. 

The law was passed February 4, 1869; the first system to be organ- 
ized was that of Little Rock, whose school board was organized on 
February 17, 1869. Twenty teachers were elected in July, assigned 
to 10 different buildings, and the schools were opened September 27, 
1869. 

Says Supt. Rightsell, in the survey given in his report for 1886-87, 
pages 10-11: 

Your honorable president [Frederick Kramer], who has held this same important 
position on your board since December 25, 1869, and who was also a member of the 
first board, can doubtless call to mind the poor accommodations that could at that time 
be secured for the children of the district. The demand was so great and the supply 
of suitable places of necessity so scanty that the board was compelled to accept 
almost any kind of a building. Halls, old dwellings, and vacant rooms over business 
houses were rented and made as comfortable and convenient as it was possible to make 
them. It was no little task for the members of the board to provide even these meager 
school accommodations for the number of children who were asking for admission. 

It was thus the schools began. The first printed report is that for 
the year 1871-72. J. R. Rightsell was superintendent. The school 
census was 4,959; the number of school sittings, 1,316; the enroll- 
ment, 1,650; the whole number of teachers employed was 23, and 
the average number of pupils per teacher was 56.3. The pressure for 
more space was met so far as possible by constructing cheap addi- 
tions to the old buildings. But although seriously handicapped the 
schools moved on with a fair degree of success, the school warrants 
being worth as much as 85 cents on the dollar; but January 19, 1874, 
the State supreme court rendered a decision making State scrip 
receivable for the special school tax. This decision at one stroke 
reduced the school revenues to one-third of their former value. 
Since the school board could no longer maintain the schools for the 
usual time, the $2,000 which they had received annually from the 
Peabody fund was temporarily withdrawn; but the board was re- 
quired to keep the schools open for three months or lose their share 
of the State apportionment. To .pile Ossa on Pelion, while the board 
was looking these difficulties in the face they lost the first ward 
building, the finest school building in the State, by fire. It was new 
and had cost $22,000; and the $5,000 insurance carried proved 
worthless. 



90 HISTOEY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN AKKANSAS. 

The head of the school board was Frederick Kramer, who had 
served in that position since Christmas, 1869. The story of the next 
12 months is an heroic record. The superintendent was dispensed 
with, salaries were cut, expenses were curtailed, warrants were sold 
lor 33J cents on the dollar, and the schools were kept open the 
minimum time required. The same course was pursued in 1875-76, a 
member of the board giving a part of his time to supervision without 
pay. By the strictest economy the financial storm was weathered 
and with the returning stability in political affairs which followed 
the adoption of the constitution of 1874, and with growing prosperity 
the warrants of the board and State scrip rose nearer par, the debts 
were paid, lost ground was recovered, and by 1876-77 the schools 
were again prepared to move forward. They were now open 9 months, 
the salaries of teachers were being gradually raised, and the Peabody 
fund renewed its contribution. The expenses for 1876-77 were 
$12,067.65 for all purposes. 

The schools of Little Kock have been singularly blessed in the 
continuity of their management. For the first few years they were 
under the direction of J. R. Rightsell as superintendent. Then came 
J. M. Fish, who served 1876-1882, and then Mr. Rightsell again took 
charge and served continuously until July 1, 1905, when he was suc- 
ceeded by Prof. B. W. Torreyson. It was thus possible to organize 
the schools in accord with certain well-defined ideas and to follow 
these lines to their logical conclusion. 

From the small beginnings ol 1869 and the early seventies we find 
the schools developing, in 1890-91 to an enrollment of 4,255 pupils in 
a school population of 8,737; the sittings had increased to 3,564; 
there were 60 teachers who received salaries aggregating $34,462.28; 
the total school expenditure for the year, including payments for 
real estate, was $64,771.24; and the school property was valued at 
$258,000. The character of the school buildings was steadily im- 
proving. In 1893-94 the total seating capacity had increased to 
4,725, while school property was worth $321,650. At this time the 
course of study was revised, extended, and made to fit the new 
conditions. 

In 1896-97 the census was 9,517; the enrollment 5,063; there were 
78 teachers, who were paid $47,997.33. The total cost per pupil on 
the basis of attendance was $15.63 and on enrollment $11.60. The 
school property had increased in value to $314,756.53. The number 
of sittings at the command of the school board was now more than 
equal to the space demanded by pupils in attendance, for within the 
last 11 years there had been 6 brick buildings erected, with many 
modern improvements and giving 52 new rooms in all. 

The last annual report seen is that for 1905-6. The school enroll- 
ment was 5,872. There were 9 buildings for whites, with 64 rooms 



ORGANIZATION OF CITY SCHOOL SYSTEMS. 91 

for the grades, and 4 for negroes, with 23 rooms for the grades. The 
high schools had now been more clearly differentiated from the 
grade schools. Normal training, sewing, and cooking had been 
introduced. The required high-school work, covering four years, is 
divided into classical, modern languages, arts, engineering, science, 
and normal training courses. The receipts for the year from all 
sources were $216,027.53; the disbursements $222,842.42, including 
$64,742.80 for teachers and $62,549.51 for new buildings, but as the 
receipts included two loans aggregating $105,952.80, we may assume 
the normal income to be about $110,000. 

FORT SMITH SCHOOLS. 

The city of Fort Smith has been particularly fortunate in the 
matter of its public schools. Under act of Congress of May 13, 1884, 
it received a gift of the Government reservation there which was to 
be held in trust for the benefit of the public schools. The reservation 
contained about 280 acres; it was surveyed and plotted and a part 
sold at public auction. The funds have been restricted to the pur- 
chase of school sites and the erection and maintenance of school 
buildings. Between 1884 and 1894 there had been received the 
sum of $333,662.25. In 1908 the schools owned buildings and sites 
worth about $350,000; real estate mortgages, $75,000, and 250 
school lots worth about $200,000. The disposition and care of these 
funds is safeguarded by the Federal law under which they were donated 
to the city, but that law undertakes no administration of the schools, 
which were left entirely under local control. The schools date 
from a time not long subsequent to the Civil War. They were first 
under the administration of Miss Emma Wheatley, by whom they 
were thoroughly graded; then came N. P. Gates as superintendent, 
and then J. L. Holloway. In 1888-89 they made use of 5 buildings 
in all, including the high school; the enumeration was 2,727; the 
enrollment, 1,975, with 2,060 sittings; there were 28 teachers, draw- 
ing more than $17,000 in salaries, with school property worth $600,- 
000. In 1889-90 the city found it necessary to levy only a 2-mill 
local tax. In 1890-91 they report more than $226,000 loaned at 
8 per cent, with an income of more than $18,000 from invested funds, 
and it was estimated that the income on a 3-mill tax would give 
them 6 additional teachers. There was still some opposition to the 
high school on the ground that this was not intended by the law, but 
this opposition seems not to have been serious. The directors tri- 
umphantly point out that during the administration of Supt. Hollo- 
way, who was then in office, the schools had grown from 26 teachers 
to 48 teachers, and from 1,500 to over 2,100 pupils. By 1897 a fine 
new high-school building had been erected. While the census was 
then 3,969, the enrollment had reached 2,350; there were now 8 



92 HISTOKY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN AEKANSAS. 

school buildings instead of 5; the salaries aggregated $33,519, and 
the total disbursements $39,243. 

Prof. B. W. Torreyson was superintendent from 1902 to 1905. In 
this time another large ward school of modern type was erected for 
white children. The number of children enrolled and the number 
of teachers employed was largely increased. A populous suburb 
with its school was added to the city system. 

In 1910-11 J. W. Kuykendall was superintendent; 10 school 
buildings were occupied and 104 teachers were employed. 

HOT SPRINGS SCHOOLS. 

The Hot Springs special school district was created and organized 
in 1881. During the first six years the schools were without a 
superintendent except for a single year, but from a badly graded 
and poorly organized system they had developed by 1887 to a pros- 
perous and efficient condition. They owned property worth $18,500. 
Five buildings were used, including the high-school, with 18 teachers; 
the enrollment was 1,136 and the average attendance 809; $10,530 
was paid in salaries and of the 5-mill tax, 3 mills went to salaries and 
2 mills to the building fund. In 1891-92 the superintendent was 
George B. Cook, now State superintendent. A new central building, 
erected at a cost of $15,000, was both handsome and comfortable; 
the school property was worth $41,800. In 1893 the schools received 
a diploma for their exhibit at the World's Fair. In 1906-7 Mr. 
Cook, who was still superintendent, reported 7 school buildings in 
use, with 54 teachers. In 1905-6 the school census was 5,398 and 
the enrollment 2,354. This was 972 less than the previous year, for 
a disastrous fire in February, 1905, had deprived them of 14 school- 
rooms and reduced their sittings from 2,531 to 1,823. The school 
term was 9 months in length. 

Extensive public school systems have been organized in other cities 
and their administration is bringing power to the communities in 
which they are. The Eureka schools were organized in 1880. Those 
of Helena go back to 1867. Pine Bluff's go back to 1882 or earlier. 
In 1896-97 their total expense was $23,655.27, of which $14,753.61 
went for salaries. There was an enrollment of 1,893 out of 3,495; the 
school property was worth $56,000. Van Buren, Fayetteville, and 
other towns have flourishing systems, and as the advantages of their 
peculiar organization become more apparent the smaller towns and 
the rural districts follow suit by organizing themselves into special 
school districts. 1 

a See a list of the older town and city systems given in Shinn's History of Education in Arkansas, 
pp. 58-61. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE PERMANENT SCHOOL 

FUND. 

The permanent school fund of Arkansas, of which the principal is 
now something over $1,135,000, invested in Arkansas 3 per cent 
30-year funding bonds due in 1929, has had an extended and varied 
history. It seems desirable to give a brief summary of the fortunes 
of these funds as illustrative both of the folly and wisdom of the 
people — folly when we consider how largely the resources of the earlier 
days were squandered; wisdom when we think of the generous devo- 
tion with which the present generation has sought to correct the 
mistakes and repair the losses of earlier days. 

The present permanent school fund is made up of (1) the sixteenth- 
section 'fund, (2) the seminary fund, (3) the saline fund, and (4) 
the permanent school fund in the narrower sense, which in recent 
years has absorbed the earlier funds and given its name to the whole. 

THE SIXTEENTH SECTION FUND. 

The oldest of these funds is the sixteenth-section fund, which is 
even older than the State itself, for it dates from the Ordinance of 
1787 and came into Arkansas with the organization of the Territory, 
March 2, 1819. In Chapter III it has been shown how a large part 
of these sixteenth-section lands were lost, directly or indirectly, to 
the school funds; how the land, under the Federal law, was the prop- 
erty of the separate townships and not of the State as a whole; how 
the townships sold much of their land and took notes in payment, 
on which, for one cause or another, for reason or without reason, by 
chicanery, fraud, misfortune, or otherwise, little or nothing was 
realized; how in the days immediately preceding the Civil War 
some of the counties had no school funds, while at least 27 had school 
funds, some being of respectable size. These funds were left in the 
counties or in the townships and were invested locally and as separate 
units in each county. Later they were held by the State and invested 
as a whole, each county being credited with the income in propor- 
tion to its share of the principal. Much of these funds was swept 
away by the Civil War, and by the act of March 1, 1867, the interest 
January 1, 1862, to January 1, 1866, due to the school funds was 
remitted to the debtors. 

93 



94 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ARKANSAS. 

As has been seen, the law of March 21, 1862, had forbidden the 
further sale of sixteenth-section lands. Little or nothing seems to 
have been done in the premises till the act of March 22, 1881, which 
provided that on petition of a majority of the male inhabitants of 
a township the school lands might be offered for sale. The collector 
was to have the lands appraised at a fair valuation, advertise and 
sell by subdivisions at not less than three-fourths of its appraised 
value, for one-fourth cash and one, two, and three years' time, with 
the land as its own security. The county treasurer was to loan the 
township funds and give the township the proper credit. 

This law does not seem to have given satisfaction or the public 
conscience was being quickened, for the general assembly of 1885 
appointed a committee a to examine the books of the commissioner 
of lands * * * to ascertain what has become of the funds arising 
from the sixteenth-section school lands." The substance of their 
report to the assembly is given herewith. After reviewing the effects 
of the act of March 22, 1881, to provide for the sale of sixteenth-section 
lands, they show that in accord with the terms of that act the " books, 
maps, surveys, papers, and evidence of debt pertaining to the six- 
teenth section in the several counties" had been turned over to the 
county clerks of the several counties and put into the hands of prose- 
cuting attorneys for collection. The committee say: 

The record * * * shows that these notes and claims were turned over to the 
several prosecuting attorneys in 1875, nearly 10 years ago, and further shows that 
only one of them * * * has ever made any collections on any of these notes or 
claims so placed in their hands in 1875, which to your committee is a good and suffi- 
cient reason why some other measure should be adopted looking to the collection of 
these claims. * * * 

Suits were instituted on a large number of these claims in the Pulaski chancery 
court, and many of them disposed of. * * * 

From the foregoing it will be seen that according to the record of school claims 
referred for collection in the office of the commissioner of State lands there are claims 
and notes due the school fund arising from the sale of the sixteenth section as follows: 

In the hands of prosecuting attorneys $221, 621. 06 

In commissioner's office 51, 769. 09 

Referred to attorney general for collection 121, 240. 56 

Referred for collection, but of which no mention is made of 

disposition 153, 473. 91 

Amounting in the aggregate to 548, 104. 62 

These notes and claims bear dates all along from 1846 to 1862, and judging from those 
that we examined, now in the office of the commissioner of State lands, we think it 
safe to say that the major part of these obligations are for the loans of the funds arising 
from the sales of the sixteenth sections, and not for the purchase of said lands. If, as 
we believe, this be true, the statute of limitation can be pleaded and bar the collection 
of an amount of money due the school fund that is truly appalling in its magnitude. 1 

1 Superintendent's report for 1895-96, pp. 331-333, quoted from House Jour., 1885, pp. 897 et seq. 



THE PEEMANENT SCHOOL FUND. 95 

A bill was thereupon introduced which became the law of 1885, 
providing that the majority of the inhabitants of any congressional 
township might petition for the sale of their sixteenth-section lands. 
The collector was then to divide this land into 40-acre tracts, appraise, 
advertise, and sell at not less than three-fourths of appraised valua- 
tion and at not less than $1.25 per acre at public auction for cash. 
The funds received were to be paid into the State treasury and 
invested in United States or Arkansas bonds, the interest to be placed 
to the credit of the respective counties and by them to the townships 
owning the sections in accordance with the congressional act of 
donation. 

The successive balances as reported by the auditor and treasurer 
were: 

Sixteenth section fund: 

Balance on hand October 1, 1886 l $71, 552. 05 

Balance on hand October 1, 1888 2 194, 035. 01 

Balance on hand October 1, 1890 3 285, 963. 56 

Balance on hand October 1, 1892 4> 359, 202. 41 

Balance on hand October 1, 1894 5 410, 581. 71 

Balance on hand October 1, 1896 6 460, 492. 00 

By resolution of March 26, 1895, the State asked Congress so to 
modify the original terms of acceptance of the sixteenth section 
grant that the interest, instead of being distributed to the townships 
owning the lands, might be distributed according to school popula- 
tion. This modification was granted by chapter 54, 55th Cong., 
2d sess. (Mar. 8, 1898), and in accord with this Federal law under 
a State act of May 8, 1899, the State auditor transferred the whole 
to the permanent school fund and so closed the sixteenth section 
fund. The amount thus transferred was $649,700, made up as 
follows : 

Balance on hand Oct. 1, 1898: 

Cash $28,157.98 

Six per cent funding bonds 113, 000. 00 

Six per cent funding bonds coupons 140, 328. 51 

'Six per cent Loughborough bonds 225, 000. 00 

$506, 486. 49 

!No balance was brought over under this heading from 1884. The "sixteenth section fund" heading 
does not appear there. Such of the sixteenth section funds as survived from an earlier period are carried 
under other heads. 

2 This includes $136,000 in 6 per cent 30-year Loughborough bonds, issue of 1875, received in exchange for 
6 per cent funding bonds and coupons in part and $25,000 in 6 per cent funding bonds. This exchange was 
made under an act of 1887, chap. 146, which authorized the exchange of common-school funds for State 
bonds, on which the State was to pay interest from the day of sale. Some were bought at a large discount. 

s This includes $225,000 in Loughborough bonds, issue of 1875. 

4 This includes $225,000 in Loughborough bonds, issue of 1875, and $33,000 in 6 per cent funding bonds. 

6 This includes $225,000 in Loughborough bonds, issue of 1875, and $82,000 in 6 per cent funding bonds. 

6 This includes $225,000 in Loughborough bonds, issue of 1875; the interest was due on $136,000 from 
July 1, 1887, and on $89,000 from Jan. 1, 1889. The interest on the $82,000 of 6 per cent funding bonds 
($48,000, series of 1869; $34,000, series of 1870) was due from July 1, 1872. 



96 HISTOKY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN AKKANSAS. 

Balance on hand Jan. 18, 1899: 

Cash $30, 235. 74 

Six per cent funding bonds 115, 000. 00 

Six per cent funding bonds coupons due 106, 350. 00 

Loughborough bonds 225, 000. 00 

$476, 585. 74 

Received Jan. 19-Oct. 1, 1899: 

Cash 7,641.86 

Six per cent funding bonds 4, 000. 00 

Six per cent funding bonds coupons due 45, 360. 00 

Loughborough bonds coupons due 153, 990. 00 

210,991.86 

Balance on hand Jan. 18, 1899 476, 585. 74 

Received Jan. 19-Oct. 1, 1899 210, 991. 86 

687, 577. 60 
Miscellaneous expenditures: 

Jan. 19-Oct. 1, 1899, as per treasurer's report 14, 400. 43 

673, 177. 17 
Cash invested in three-per cent 30-year funding bonds in accord with 
section 6 of the funding act of May 8, 1899 23, 477. 17 

649, 700. 00 
Turned over to the permanent school fund on Oct. 1, 1899, in accord with 

the act of May 8, 1899, and sixteenth section fund closed 1 649, 700. 00 

Since the date of transfer, all the funds arising from the sale of 
sixteenth-section lands have been paid into the treasury as a part of 
"the ' common-school fund' arising from the present 2-mill State levy 
and subject to the same distribution among the school districts of the 
State." 2 

The sums thus paid into the common-school fund and distributed 
annually to the schools as part of that fund since May 8, 1899, as seen 
from the auditor's report were as follows: 

Year ending Oct. 1, 1900 $97, 236. 70 

Year ending Oct. 1, 1902 149, 800. 34 

Year ending Oct. 1, 1904 130, 058. 81 

Year ending Oct. 1, 1906 101, 814. 30 

Year ending Oct. 1, 1908 -. 93, 639. 68 

Year ending Oct. 1, 1910 95, 646. 05 

Year ending Oct. 1, 1912 36, 273. 88 ' 

Acres of sixteenth-section lands sold to Oct. 6, 1904, about 
63,793.57 

It would seem that the act of the legislature of 1899 in distributing 
for immediate use all funds arising from the sale of sixteenth-section 
lands, while in accord with the recent act of Congress, is contrary to 
the original idea on which these lands were granted to the States. 

1 See Treasurer's Report, 1899-1900, pp. 30-34. The item of $23,477.17 cash, invested in funding bonds as 
above was made into a special sinking fund to redeem the valid scrip and treasurer's certificates then 
outstanding. The funding bonds received in exchange were to become a part of the permanent school 
fund. See chap. 148, sec. 6, laws of 1899. 

2 Laws of 1899, p. 293-95. 



THE PERMANENT SCHOOL FUND. 97 

That idea looked to them as the beginning of a permanent school fund, 
of which only the income was to be used. Indeed, this principle is 
still recognized by the State, for the Digest of School Laws, published 
in 1910, thus defines the permanent school fund, which is called 
officially the common-school fund, as consisting of — 

the proceeds of all lands that have been, or hereafter may be, granted by the United 
States to this State, and not otherwise appropriated by the United States or this State; 
also all moneys, stocks, bonds, lands, and other property now belonging to any fund 
for purposes of education ; also the net proceeds of all sales of lands and other property 
and effects that may accrue to this State by escheat, or from sales of estrays, or from 
unclaimed dividends, or distributive shares of the estates of deceased persons; also 
any proceeds of the sale of public lands which may have been, or may be hereafter, 
paid over to the State (Congress consenting); also ten per cent of the net proceeds of 
the sales of all State land, and it shall be the duty of the State treasurer to set aside 
this ten per cent to the credit of the common school fund when he receives the proceeds 
of this sale from the State land commissioner; also all the grants, gifts, or devises that 
have been or hereafter may be made to this State, and not otherwise appropriated by 
the tenure of the grant, gift, or devise, shall be securely invested and sacredly preserved as 
a public-school fund that shall be designated as the common-school fund of the State 
and which shall be the common property of the State, except the proceeds arising from 
the sale or lease of the sixteenth section * * *. 

The principal arising from the sale of the sixteenth section of land shall never be 
apportioned or used. 1 

THE SEMINARY FUND. 

The next oldest of these funds is the seminary fund, which dates 
from March 2, 1827, when two townships were given to the Territory 
by Congress "for the support and use of an university. " The Terri- 
torial governor was given power to sell some of these lands and apply 
the proceeds to the buildings of the proposed university, but nothing 
seems to have been done. In 1836 the assembly was given by Con- 
gress entire control over the seminary lands. Some of the lands 
were sold and the proceeds made a part of the capital of the Bank of 
the State of Arkansas as a privileged fund, not responsible for its 
debts but to be credited with its earnings. The sums thus received 
and invested according to the auditor's reports were as follows: 

Balance on hand Nov. 1, 1837: 

Cash 2 $96. 30 

Notes 2, 028. 23 

Balance on hand Oct. 1, 1840: 

Cash 2 1, 215. 92 

Notes 1, 802. 73 

Balance on hand Oct. 1, 1842: 

Cash 2 : . . 2, 188. 41 

Notes 29, 269. 53 

1 Sections 7486 and 7488 of Kirby's Digest, reprinted as a part of the Digest of School Laws, 1910. 

2 See note 1, p. 98. 

53733°— 12 7 



98 HISTOEY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN AKKANSAS. 

Balance on hand Oct. 1, 1844: 

In State Bank 1 $2, 188. 41 

Notes 29, 269. 53 

Balance on hand Oct. 1, 1846: 

In State Bank 1 2, 188. 41 

Notes 39, 384. 23 

In 1846 Congress at the request of the assembly gave its consent to 
the application of the seminary fund to the use of the common schools.' 
A fund was again accumulating, but such parts of this fund as were 
loaned on notes with personal security were often lost, and much land 
was lost by the failure of buyers and their securities. Desiring to 
change the plan of investment the assembly, by act of January 5, 
1849, provided for semiannual distributions to the counties on the 
basis of the school census. The funds thus distributed were to be 
invested by the respective counties and to remain a perpetual fund. 

The receipt and distribution of moneys of the seminary fund under 
the law of 1849 was as follows (see auditor's and treasurer's reports) : 

Balance on hand Oct. 1, 1848: 

Specie 2 $5, 392. 47 

Notes j 40,624.54 

Received during two years, Oct. 1, 1848, to Oct. 1, 1850, in specie 16, 550. 72 

Distributed (i. e., apportioned) during this period as follows: 

June 30, 1849 $12, 418. 76 

Dec. 31, 1849 2, 866. 36 

June 30, 1850 5, 707. 26 

Total distributed (i.e., apportioned) 20, 992. 38 

Paid over to the counties 7, 592. 09 

Balance on hand Oct. 1, 1850 13,400.29 

Apportioned: 

Jan. 1, 1851 $3, 036. 21 

July 1, 1851 4, 575. 06 

Jan. 1, 1852 3,001.00 

July 1, 1852 2, 164. 36 

12, 776. 63 

Total amount apportioned, including balance on hand Oct. 1, 

1850 26, 176. 92 

Amount paid over to the counties 17, 105. 84 

Balance on hand Oct. 1, 1852 9,071.08 

Apportioned: 

Jan. 1, 1853 $1,289.07 

July 1, 1853 3,825.86 

Jan. 1, 1854 4,132.46 

Julv 1, 1854 2, 213. 60 

11,460.99 



1 These are the sums which were reported under these dates as a part of the capital of the Bank of the 
State of Arkansas; the last being the results of additions and the 10 per cent dividend declared by the 
bank seems to represent the total amount lost by the seminary fund in the collapse of the bank. After 
1846 it ceased to be carried as an asset of the fund. 

2 Senate Journal, 1848, p. 250, makes this item $6,583.94. 



THE PEKMANENT SCHOOL FUND. 



99 



Amount apportioned for two years ending Sept. 30, 1854, mclud- 

ing the balance on hand Oct. 1,1852 *20, 532. 0/ 

Of the above there was paid over to the counties 1,3,0/s. id 



Balance on hand Oct. 1, 1854 

Apportioned: 

SS:::::::::::. 

Jan. 1, 1856 

July 1, 1856 



5, 953. 92 



1, 817. 34 
1, 298. 30 



5, 974. 19 



Amount apportioned for two years ending Sept. 30, 1856, includ- 

ing the balance on hand Oct.^ 1,1854 

Amount paid over to the counties 



9, 948. 82 



Balance on hand Oct. 1, 1856. 
Apportioned: 

Jan. 1,1857 

July 1, 1857 

Jan. 1, 1858 

July 1, 1858 



2, 979. 29 



Amount apportioned for two years ending Sept. 30, 1858, includ- 



ing the balance on hand Oct. 1, 1856. 
Amount paid over to the counties. 



28, 116. 68 



31,095.97 
29, 260. 31 



1 835 
Balance on hand Oct. 1, 1858 ' 

^n ^ : H«S 

July 1,1859 

Jan. 1, 1860 

July 1,1860 ■ 



3, 299. 25 
3, 294. 00 
2, 365. 40 



Amount apportioned for two years ending Sept. 30, 1860, includ- 
ing the balance on hand Oct. 1, 1858..: 14,884. 15 

Amount paid over to the counties 11, 749. 34 



Balance on hand Oct. 1, 1860. 



3, 134. 81 



The total amount of seminary funds distributed to the counties 
may be represented by the following table: 

Seminary funds distributed to the counties. 1 



Totals up to- 


Appor- 
tioned, 
excluding 
balances. 


Paid over 

to the 
counties. 


Not drawn 
by county 
to which 
appor- 
tioned, up 
to date. 




§20,992.38 
33,769.01 
45,230.00 
51,204.19 
79,320,87 
92,369.36 


$7,592.09 
24, 697. 93 
38,276.08 
48,224.90 
77,485.21 


$13,400.29 




9,071.08 




6, 953. 92 
2,979.29 
1,835.66 








89, 234. 55 o, ia*. oj. 




_ 





For these figures see the reports of the State auditor and State treasurer, 1850-1860. 



100 HISTOKY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN AKKANSAS. 

The auditor reported in 1866 that the principal of notes due for 
seminary lands in 1861 was about $35,000. By act of March 1, 1867, 
interest on these notes was remitted between January 1, 1862, and 
January 1, 1866. It is probable that the greater part of these notes, 
together with the greater part of the sums distributed to the counties 
and invested by them locally, were lost as a result of the war. 

The act of March 21, 1862, forbade the further sale of school lands 
till after the war was over. The last distribution of the seminary 
and saline funds was made January 1, 1861. The State auditor in 
his report for 1864-1866 says: 

After that date whatever of cash., Confederate money, war bonds, etc., that came into 
the treasury was withheld from distribution, and most of it was appropriated for 
general expenditures. 

The amount and character of the funds thus received and used by 
the State belonging to the seminary and saline funds are shown in 
the appendix to the auditor's report for 1864-1866 (p. 21 et seq.). 

The auditor states also (p. 10) that there was " distributed" from 
this fund during the two years ending September 30, 1862, the sum 
of $5,040.82; that $1,943 went from the fund to the institution for 
the blind; that $4,677.95 in specie was transferred to the ordinary 
revenue account, of which $2,679.23 in specie was transferred during 
the quarter ending December 31, 1864. There had also been trans- 
ferred during the quarter ending September 30, 1864: War bonds 
$504.32; treasury warrants, $79.82; Confederate money, $1,998.72 

In the same report (p. 31) the auditor discusses these transfers 
and says : 

A question arises if the State should be considered as indebted to the swamp-land, 
internal-improvement, seminary, and saline funds for the amounts, or for what portion 
of them, which since the 6th of May, 1861, have been transferred from those funds and 
used for State purposes. 

It does not appear that these sums .were ever replaced. 

Balance on hand Oct. 1, 1866. v Nothing. 

Balance on hand July 3, 1868. . . i Nothing. 

Balance on hand Oct. 1, 1870: 

State scrip $464. 30 

United States currency 36. 61 

500. 91 
Balance on hand Oct. 1, 1872: 

State scrip $1, 962. 26 

United States currency 36. 61 

1,998.87 



THE PEKMANENT SCHOOL FUND. 101 

Balance on hand Oct. 1, 1874: 

State scrip $704. 40 

United States currency x 36. 61 

741. 01 

Balance on hand Oct. 1, 1876 982. 64 

Balance on hand Oct. 1, 1878 2 1, 548. 84 

Balance on hand Oct. 1, 1880 3 Nothing. 

This fund disappears after 1880 from the auditor's reports, being 
transferred to the permanent school fund, which also included the 
sixteenth section fund till that was reestablished by law of March 31, 
1885. The last of the seminary lands were sold in 1905-6. 

SALINE FUND. 

This fund was created out of the sales of saline lands granted to 
the State by the United States- for educational purposes. 

The number of acres thus granted was 46,080, of which 41,879.51 
had been located up to 1858. 4 

They were sold on the same terms as the seminary lands and the 
receipts as reported by the auditor are about as follows: 

Balance on hand — 

Nov. 1, 1837 $127.50 

Nov.l, 1838 127.50 

Oct. 1, 1840 135.50 

Oct. 1, 1842 151.27 

Oct. 1, 1842, notes 5 475. 00 

Oct. 1,1844 151.27 

Oct. 1, 1846 151.27 

The cash principal of this fund, like the seminary fund, was made 
a part of the capital of the Bank of the State of Arkansas and was 
also lost. 

By law of January 12, 1853, it was provided that the accruing 
principal of the saline fund should be distributed to the counties in 
accord with the school census, just as was done in the case of the 
seminary lands under the law of 1847. 

The distribution was as follows : 

Balance on hand Oct. 1, 1854 $1, 068. 97 

Apportioned — 

July 1, 1855 $2, 764. 25 

Jan. 1, 1856 429. 64 

July 1, 1856 649. 15 

3,843.04 



1 The $36.61 in United States currency was transferred to general revenue account. 

2 There was burned under act of May 28, 1874, scrip belonging to the seminary fund to the sum of $5,780. 

3 There was burned, by error, under act of May 28, 1874, in second quarter, 1879, $1,548.84 in scrip. 
* House Jour., 1858, p. 266. 

6 These notes were given in 1832. 



102 



HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ARKANSAS. 



Amount apportioned for two years ending Sept. 30, 1856, including 

balance on hand Oct. 1, 1854 $3, 843. 04 

Amount actually paid over to the counties 1, 727. 17 

Balance on hand Oct. 1, 1856 2, 115. 87 

Apportioned — 

Jan. 1,1857 

July 1, 1857 

Jan. 1, 1858 

Julyl, 1858 

3,864.75 

Amount apportioned for two years ending Sept. 30, 1858, including 

balance on hand Oct. 1, 1856 5,980.62 

Amount actually paid over to the counties 5, 717. 75 

Balance on hand Oct. 1, 1858 262. 87 

Apportioned — 

Jan. 1, 1859 $3,687.28 

July 1 , 1859 1, 214. 02 

Jan. 1, 1860 2,073.91 

July 1, 1860 1, 802. 89 

8,778.10 

Amount apportioned for two years ending Sept. 30, 1860, including 

balance on hand Oct. 1, 1858 9, 040. 97 

Amount paid over to the counties 7, 167. 58 

Balance on hand Oct. 1, 1860 1, 873. 39 

Distributed (apportioned) during two years ending Sept. 30, 1862 2, 159. 29 

The above sums may be represented as follows: 

Saline fund distributed to the counties. 1 



Totals up to — 



Appor- 
tioned, 
excluding 
balances. 



Total paid 
out to the 
counties. 



Not drawn 

by the 
county to 
which ap- 
portioned 
up to date. 



Jan. 12, 1853,2 to Oct. 1,1854. 

Oct. 1,1856 

Oct. 1,1858 

Oct. 1,1860... 



S3, 843. 04 
7, 707. 79 
16,485.89 



$1, 727. 17 
7, 444. 92 
14,612.50 



11,068.97 

2, 115. 87 

262. 87 

1,873.39 



i For these figures see the reports of the State auditor and State treasurer, 1854-1860. 
2 Date of act authorizing sale. 

The auditor in his report for 1864-1866 states that after May 6, 1861, 
only about 500 acres of the internal improvement and saline lands 
had been sold, and these mainly to complete contracts already 
entered on. There was then due, he reports, as principal of notes 
given in payment for saline lands, about $10,000, on which the 
interest was remitted between January 1, 1862, and January 1, 1866, 
by act of March 1, 1867. 

There is every reason to believe that practically all of these notes 
and all of the saline funds invested by the various counties on their 
own account before the Civil War went down in the general ruin. 



THE PEBMANENT SCHOOL FUND. 103 

Of the saline fund which came into the treasury during that period 
the auditor reports * that for the two years ending September 30, 
1862, there was "distributed" $2,159.29 and that there was paid to 
the institution for the blind out of the same fund, $1,864.50. 

He reports further that the total amounts transferred from saline 
fund during the war to general revenue fund was — for quarter end- 
ing December 31, 1864, specie, $545.51; quarter ending September 
30, 1864, war bonds, $6, treasury warrants, $4,080.71, Confederate 
money, $0.91. None of this fund seems to have been replaced. 

Balance on hand — 

Oct. 1, 1866 Nothing. 

Apr. 25, 1867 $46.14 

July 3, 1868 46. 14 

Oct. 1, 1870 46.14 

Oct. 1,1872 1,532.95 > 

Oct. 1,1874 2 453. 50 

Oct. 1,1876 3 1,151. 07 

Oct. 1,1878 1,865.21 

Oct. 1, 1880 4 26.43 

Oct. 1, 1882 Nothing. 

In the report for 1884 and in subsequent reports the saline fund is 
included as a part of the permanent school fund. 

PERMANENT SCHOOL FUND. 

This fund, under the name of Public School Fund (later Common 
School Fund), was recognized in the Reconstruction Constitution of 
1868, 5 which provided that the proceeds of all lands granted to the 
State by the United States not otherwise appropriated, all moneys, 
stocks, bonds, lands, and other property then belonging to any fund 
for education ; the net proceeds from escheats, estrays, unclaimed divi- 
dends, or distributive shares of estates of deceased persons, fines, 
penalties, forfeitures, proceeds of the sales of public lands, grants, 

i Report 1864-1866, app., p. 10. 

2 There was burned this year under act of May 28, 1874, $5,542.28 in State scrip belonging to this fund. 

3 The sum of $104.30 in United States currency was transferred to general-revenue account. 

4 By error, $1,955.37 in State scrip was burned under act of May 28, 1874. 

5 As early as 1842 we have record in the auditor's books of a " Common School Fund/' which was derived 
from the sale of forfeited lands after deducting State and county taxes and costs of sale in accord with sec. 
135 of the revenue law then in force.— Ball & Roane's Revised Statutes. 1837. 

Balance on hand— 

Oct. 1,1842 , $1,394.12 

Oct. 1, 1844 (specie) 1,515.84 

Oct. 1, 1844 ( bank paper) 124. 00 

The second of these items is reported as making a part of the capital of the Bank of the State of Arkansas. 
It was withdrawn from the bank in specie and was expended in 1845 for textbooks (see Auditor's Report, 
1846 and ante). 

The third item ($124) was carried on the auditor's books for some years and was reported as being in 
Arkansas bank paper. It is probably the same as the item of $124 reported as transferred from the common- 
school fund during quarter ending Dec. 31, 1864, to the general-revenue account. 



104 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ARKANSAS. 

gifts, and devises not otherwise appropriated, etc., should be " securely 
invested and sacredly preserved as a public school fund." 

By the terms of this organic act the public school fund included 
all that was left after the wreck of war of the sixteenth section fund, 
the seminary fund, and the saline fund, but a separate account was 
maintained of the seminary fund, as we have already seen, down to 
1880, and in 1885 the sixteenth section fund was again established 
on a separate basis, to be again absorbed in the permanent school 
fund under the law of 1899. 

Balance of permanent school fund on hand October 1, 1870: Cur- 
rency, $22,201.37; State scrip, $12,991.12; total, $35,192.49. 

It was ordered that this be invested in United States bonds, and 
in 1872 we find: 

Balance on hand Oct. 1, 1872: 

United States 5-20 bonds $24, 186. 25 

State scrip 56, 804. 22 

United States currency 14, 510. 84 

Balance on hand Oct. 1, 1874: 

United States 5 per cent 20-year bonds 38, 404. 04 

State scrip 15, 431. 45 

United States currency 7, 496. 06 

61, 331. 55 
Balance on hand Oct. 1, 1876: 

United States currency 281. 29 

State scrip 30, 070. 92 

6 per cent State funding bonds 131, 000. 00 

161, 352. 21 
Balance on hand — 

Oct. 1, 1878 » 190,186.24 

Oct. 1, 1880 2 155, 004. 75 

Balance on hand October 1, 1882 3 163, 152. 28 

Balance on hand October 1, 1884 4 170, 346. 91 

Balance on hand October 1, 1886 5 175, 382. 35 

Balance on hand October 1, 1888 6 266, 368. 38 

Balance on hand October 1, 1890 7 274, 201. 82 

Balance on hand October 1, 1892 7 278, 465. 46 

Balance on hand October 1, 1894 8 285, 423. 91 

i Includes $141,000 in State bonds. 

2 Includes $141,000 in State bonds. By error, in second quarter, 1879, $50,237.23 in State scrip belonging 
to this fund was burned. Replaced later. 

a This includes $159,000 in 6 per cent 30-year Loughborough (State) bonds. 

* This includes $166,000 in Loughborough bonds. 

s In the second quarter, 1885, the $170,000 in Loughborough bonds then owned by the permanent school 
fund had been redeemed in accord with the act of issue (Laws 1874-75, p. 72, sec. 9), a similar amount 
being transferred from the sinking fund. These bonds had paid 6 per cent regularly. 

6 This includes $259,000 in 30-year 6 per cent Loughborough bonds of 1875 which had been received in 
exchange for 6 per cent funding bonds and coupons and 5 per cent State bank bonds and interest. This 
batch had not paid interest since July 1, 1887, and no provision was made by the act of 1887 (chap. 146) for 
this interest. 

7 This includes $265,000 in 6 per cent 30-year Loughborough bonds of 1875. 

8 This includes $265,000 in Loughborough bonds and $8,000 in 6 per cent funding bonds. 



THE PEKMANENT SCHOOL FUND. 105 

Balance on hand October 1, 1896 ' 288, 549. 11 

Balance on hand October 1, 1898 290,555.44 

Made up as follows : 

Cash $1, 653. 95 

6 per cent Loughborough bonds 265, 000. 00 

6 per cent funding bonds .- 10, 000. 00 

6 per cent funding bonds, interest 13, 901. 49 

290, 555. 44 

Receipts, October 1, 1898, to January 19, 1899, as per treasurer's 

books 183.71 

290, 739. 15 
Expenditures, October 1, 1898, to January 19, 1899, as per treasurer's 
books 4 3 121.49 

Balance on hand January 19, 1899 286, 617. 66 

Made up as follows: 

Cash $1, 837. 66 

6 per cent Loughborough bonds 265, 000. 00 

6 per cent funding bonds 10, 000. 00 

6 per cent funding bonds, interest 9, 780. 00 

286, 617. 66 

Receipts, all sources, January 19 to October 1, 1899: 

Cash 1, 674. 39 

6 per cent funding bonds, interest 150. 00 

6 per cent funding bonds, interest 3, 120. 00 

6 per cent Loughborough bonds, interest 190, 260. 00 

481, 822. 05 
By transfer from the sixteenth section fund (q. v.), October 1, 1899, 
under act of May 8, 1899 649, 700. 00 

Total 1,131,522.05 

3 per cent 30-year funding bonds, issue 1899, bought under act of 
May 8, 1899: 

Principal 1, 111, 500. 00 

Coupons, not t matured but carried as cash 1, 000, 350. 00 

3, 243, 372. 05 

Total receipts, January 19 to October 1, 1899 3, 243, 372. 05 

Total receipts, October 1, 1899, to October 1, 1900: 

Cash 6, 745. 03 

3 per cent 30-year funding bonds, bought 2, 000. 00 

3 per cent 30-year unmatured coupons 1, 740. 00 

Total receipts, January 19, 1899, to October 1, 1900 3, 253, 857. 08 

Total expenditures, January 19, 1899, to October 1, 1900, including 
all the 6 per cent Loughborough and 6 per cent funding bonds and 
their matured coupons, amounting to $1,128,010, exchanged by 
State debt board under funding act of May 8, 1899, for new 3 per 
cent 30-year funding bonds, issue of 1899 (the old bonds being de- 
stroyed after redemption) , , 1, 166, 402. 83 

i This includes the same bonds as in 1894. The interest on the $8,000 of funding bonds, issues of 1869 and 
1870, was due from Jan. 1, 1872; of the Loughborough issue of 1875, interest was due on $259,000 from July 1, 
1887, and on $6,000 from Jan. 1, 1889. Interest due on these bonds Oct. 1, 1896, was $157,935. 



106 HISTOEY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN AKKANSAS. 

Balance on hand October 1, 1900 $2, 087, 454. 25 

Made up as follows: 

Cash. $5, 209. 25 

3 per cent 30-year funding bonds 1, 113, 500. 00 

1,118,709.25 

3 per cent 30-year coupons, not yet due * 968, 745. 00 

2, 087, 454. 25 
Balance on hand October 1, 1902: 

Cash 8, 872. 85 

3 per cent 30-year funding bonds 1, 118, 500. 00 

1, 127, 372. 85 
Coupons not yet due 905, 985. 00 

2, 033, 357. 85 
Balance on hand October 1, 1904: 

Cash 6, 861. 27 

Funding bonds 1, 123, 500. 00 

1, 130, 361. 27 
Coupons not yet due 842, 625. 00 

1, 972, 986. 27 
Balance on hand October 1, 1906: 

Cash 7. 95 

Funding bonds 1, 134, 500. 00 

1. 134, 507. 95 
Coupons not yet due 782, 805. 00 

1, 917, 312. 95 
Balance on hand October 1, 1908: 

Cash 965. 25 

Funding bonds 1, 134, 500. 00 

1. 135, 465. 25 
Coupons not yet due 714, 735. 00 

1, 850, 200. 25 
Balance on hand October 1, 1910 (as reported September 5, 1910): 

Cash , 3, 405. 85 

Funding bonds, 3 per cent 1, 134, 500. 00 

1, 137, 905. 85 
Coupons not yet due 646, 665. 00 

1, 784, 570. 85 

It does not appear that the permanent school fund as now consti- 
tuted is as large as it should be. The State superintendent said in 
1898-99 (pp. 28-29) that the amount arising (1) from the 2-mill tax, 

1 While these coupons are not yet due, under a ruling of the State auditor they are carried as a charge 
against the State treasury. 



THE PEKMANENT SCHOOL FUND. 107 

(2) the future sales of sixteenth, section lands, (3) 10 per cent of the 
sales of all State lands, (4) the interest on the permanent school fund, 
and (5) other small items "constitute what is known as the Common 
School Fund, which is apportioned to the various counties of the 
State pro rata." It would seem that properly items two and three 
should form a part of the permanent school fund. As now arranged, 
the State is spending principal, instead of interest. 1 

The State superintendents have not been slow to see that the 
permanent school fund (the interest-bearing fund) was not receiving 
all that was due it under the law. In his report for 1895-96, Supt. 
Jordan says (pp. 171-172) : 

The necessary steps should be taken by the legislature to enforce section 6932 of 
Sandels & Hill's Digest. This was an act passed December 7, 1875, and it provided 
among other sources from which the "common-school funds" should be accumulated, 
that 10 per cent of the net proceeds of the sales of all State lands should be set aside 
for this purpose. There is no provision made in this act as to whose duty it is to 
make this distribution or assignment, whether the land commissioner or State treas- 
urer. * * * 

Thus there has been lost to the "common-school fund" 10 per cent on all sales of 
public lands since the passage of the act of December 7, 1875. It appears to be a most 
remarkable remissness on the part of legislatures to manifest so little concern about 
those dearest and most sacred statutory interests of our public-school revenues. Prob- 
ably by the neglect of this statute alone there has been lost to the "common-school 
fund" $50,000. 

According to the biennial report of this office for 1893-94 there was due to the "com- 
mon-school fund" from this source, in 1888, $33,185.52, as ascertained by a senate 
committee in 1889. The increase due since that date has not been ascertained. It 
is a matter referred to the consideration of the legislature of 1897. It is recommended 
that the legislature appoint a committee on this subject, authorizing them to make a 
report of the amounts due to January, 1897. It is further urged that section 6932 be 
so amended as to require the proper officer to make year by year the allotment of this 
10 per cent of the sales of public lands to the "common-school fund." 

The State scrip burned under the law of May 28, 1874, either by 
error or otherwise, has also been a source of annoyance and trouble 
to the authorities. 

The treasurer reports that there was burned under act of May 28, 
1874: 

State scrip belonging to common-school fund (i. e., the fund from which 
the annual apportionment was made and which may account in part for 

the failure of the schools in those years) in 1874 $746, 785. 76 

Burned in fourth quarter 196, 987. 38 

State scrip belonging to seminary fund: 

Burned by error, 1877-78 5, 780. 68 

Burned by error, second quarter, 1879 1, 548. 84 

State scrip belonging to saline fund: 

Burned by error, 1874 5, 542. 28 

Burned by error, 1879-80 1, 955. 37 

i There was a small fund known as the State school interest fund. In third quarter, 1909, it amounted to 
$682.74; it was then transferred to the common school fund, and the account was closed. 



108 HISTORY OP PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ARKANSAS. 

State scrip belonging to permanent school fund: 

Burned by error, 1874 128, 841. 32 

Burned by error, 1879 50, 237. 23 



179, 078. 55 

In the case of the permanent school fund the burned scrip was 
replaced by bonds of like amount. It is not clear what was done in 
the other cases. 

The matter was considered by the assembly of 1893. The report 
of the senate committee, although but little illuminating, is given 
from Mr. Jordan's report for 1895-96: 

Section 1 of an act approved March 18, 1881, provides: 

That all noninterest-bearing State scrip collected by the collectors of the respective 
counties for State school purposes shall be by them paid into the State treasury, as 
now provided by law, and the same scrip paid out by the State treasurer upon the war- 
rants of the auditor. 

In compliance with this act the treasurer paid out, as directed, all noninterest scrip 
so received by him for the common-school fund, but as a large proportion of his receipts 
in scrip for this fund about that time and for several years afterwards was interest- 
bearing, which under the law he was prohibited from paying out, he was compelled of 
course in paying warrants drawn against it to issue new noninterest-bearing scrip 
therefor, leaving the interest-bearing scrip at the credit of the fund on his books, and 
thereby increasing that credit to an amount largely in excess of that actually belonging 
to the school fund and subject to apportionment; and although ex-Treasurer Wood- 
ruff turned over to his successor in office $114,990.80 in State scrip, as borne upon his 
books as a credit to the common-school fund, only $14,935.90 of that amount was sub- 
ject to apportionment. And if we add to this $578.97 scrip, received by Treasurer 
Morrow on account of this fund, we have $15,514.87 as the correct balance of scrip due 
the common school fund. 1 

As early as 1871 the United States Commissioner of Education 
estimated that the permanent school fund had lost up to that time 
three-quarters of a million dollars. This and subsequent losses are 
due in the main to: 

(1) Failure to collect payment for lands sold or money borrowed. 

(2) Diversion of school funds to meet other pressing needs and not 
replacing them. 

(3) Insufficient legislation, as in case of the 10 per cent fund. 

(4) Destruction of scrip belonging to this fund without replacing 
the same. 

(5) Distributing the principal instead of using interest only, as is 
now done with the sixteenth section fund. 

i Superintendent's Report, 1895-96, pp. 172-173, quoting Senate Jour., 1893, 779 et seq. 



CHAPTER X. 
MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS.* 

I. AUXILIARY EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES. 

Arkansas Teachers 1 Association. — Among the various subsidiary 
aids to the public schools the Arkansas Teachers' Association has been 
by no means the least, nor is it unimportant in itself. This associa- 
tion was organized in 1869, held its first meeting in Little Rock, and 
had State Supt. Thomas Smith, who seems to have been the chief 
organizing force, as its first president. It decayed with the decline 
of the reconstruction era, but on passing into the hands of the Con- 
servatives with the other machinery of government it began again to 
increase in power. It was instrumental in directing the educational 
policy of the Conservatives; indeed, its members were largely re- 
sponsible for the school laws of 1873 and 1875. Since 1S72 it has 
maintained its organization, although its vitality has varied greatly 
at times; within the last 20 years it has had a rather steady and sub- 
stantial growth. It now has nearly 1,300 members. Its proceedings, 
some of them issued in pamphlet form, contain many interesting and 
suggestive papers. Better than this, it shows that the public school 
teachers in Arkansas are earnestly seeking for higher results and in 
their search are not bound by the mere conventionalities of custom. 

The educational press. — Nearly as old as the teachers' association, 
and of almost equal value educationally, have been the various school 
journals published in Arkansas, but their history has been full of the 
vicissitudes which so often overtake the publications that seek to be 
something more than mere caterers to the whims and caprices of the 
moment. 

First came the Arkansas Journal of Education, founded by Thomas 
Smith, then State superintendent, and published from Little Rock. 
It appeared as a newspaper in 1870, was changed to magazine form 
with January, 1871, and was published through 1872. Smith was 
succeeded by Corbin as State superintendent in January, 1873, and as 
no numbers of his journal after that date are discoverable it may be 
assumed that it was soon discontinued. 

This journal shows the characteristics of the period. There were 
long extracts from other publications — literary, historical, or moral 
and hortatory in tone. There was little that bore directly on the 
school questions of the locality; there were few letters, questions, or 

109 



110 HISTOKY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ARKANSAS. 

discussions by the teachers of the State. It may not have been the 
fault of the editor, but the practical application of its contributions 
had to be made by the reader himself v 

The next educational magazine to appear in the State was the 
Arkansas School Journal, of which the first number was published in 
November, 1880. The editor was J. R. Weathers, an Indiana teacher 
of much experience who had also taught in Arkansas. This was a 
private venture which tried to work hand in hand with the school 
officials and got closer to the teachers of the State than the earlier 
venture had done. There were contributions by leading Arkansas 
educators, but the bulk of the text was still clipped from other 
sources. The Journal sought to hold up the hands of the superin- 
tendent, encouraged the voting of the special tax and printed the 
proceedings of the teachers' association. 

Mr. Weathers surrendered the editorial work within a year and was 
succeeded by Hon. James L. Denton, then State superintendent, 
under whose enthusiastic administration it became more distinctively 
local. But the essential element of financial support was lacking. 
Prof. Denton died, and J. Kellogg became business manager and act- 
ing editor. With the beginning of volume 3, January, 1883, the name 
was changed to Kellogg's Eclectic Monthly. With Prof. O. V. Hays as 
editor the scope of the publication was widened and an appeal made 
to a broader clientele, but there was little response, and with the num- 
ber for July, 1883, this publication went the way its predecessor had 
gone. 

Then came the Arkansas Teacher, issued from Kussellville by the 
Arkansas Evangel Publishing Co., with Prof. Josiah Hazen Shinn as 
editor. The second number appeared in February, 1884. It was a 
very modest octavo of 8 pages with cover, published at 50 cents per 
year. The increasing patronage caused it to develop by July into a 
quarto of 8 pages with cover, and the price was raised to $1. In the 
hands of this veteran school man the Teacher was racy of the soil. 
It grew and developed for a time; it again doubled its size, but it 
was not well supported and died. The last number seen is that for 
December, 1885, volume 2, No. 12. 

After the suspension of Prof. Shinn's Arkansas Teacher there was a 
long intermission. About November, 1896, the Arkansas School 
Journal was issued. The first number of this journal examined is 
that for May, 1899, which is volume 3, No. 7. It was then edited and 
published by E. L. Gatewood and W. J. Mcllwain and appeared in 
quarto form of 24 pages. 

This journal is also racy of the soil, for it is made up almost entirely 
of the work of Arkansas teachers; it contains articles and discussions 
by them; reports meetings; has suggestions of local and practical 
value, and has even reached the reflective stage, printing now and 



MISCELLANEOUS MATTEES. Ill 

then the reminiscences of the men who have grown gray in the edu- 
cational service of the State. In January, 1901, Mr. Gatewood re- 
tired from the publication. The whole duty of the office was then 
assumed by Mr. Mcllwain, who organized in connection with his jour- 
nal a teachers' agency and school-supply business. 

The school-improvement associations. — The first school-improve- 
ment association was organized in Arkansas about 1905, and the 
first center of activity was Little Rock. The preliminary success of 
this work was so marked that in 1908 the Conference for Education 
in the South devoted $1,000 to the advancement of the work, and in 
October of that year Supt. George B. Cook began a vigorous cam- 
paign, with the result that in January, 1909, there were reported 76 
associations, with a membership ol 2,256 and an expenditure of 
$9,585 for repairs and improvements in the material equipment of 
the schools. It is to be noted that most of this money was earned 
by the associations themselves, working in connection with the 
school children. Nor is the money side the most important, for this 
effort to secure physical betterment for the school creates interest, 
enthusiasm, and love. It fosters local pride and serves in a most 
admirable way to attract and increase the interest of patrons. Says 
one of the leaders: 

We want to make the school-improvement association of Arkansas the housekeeping 
department of the public schools. The school board must take care of the finances. 
The teacher has time for little outside of the curriculum. It devolves upon the 
mother to make the schoolhouse a place where she will be glad for her child to spend 
a part of each day, a place with well-chosen pictures on clean walls, good books for 
needed reference, and school grounds to which they may point with pride, with at 
least 90 per cent of our children in school 9 months of each year. 1 

From clean walls and clean rooms it is not a far call to more beauti- 
ful school grounds and the school gardens which usually accompany 
them. In the rural district the same ideas are developed in the 
organization of corn clubs for the boys and poultry clubs for the 
girls. Then come similar organizations for other lines of work, and 
the net result is a greatly increased interest in schoolroom work, in 
the study of agriculture to which it leads, and improved methods 
and intensive farming. 

The school-improvement association issues also plans and sugges- 
tions for school buildings, with details for heating, lighting, and 
ventilating; for desks, sewerage, sanitation, etc. A handsome, 
sterling silver loving cup is awarded each year to the local school- 
improvement association doing the greatest amount of practical 
work. According to the last report of the State superintendent, 
there are now 255 school-improvement associations in the State, 
with more than 10,000 members, and they have invested $400 in 

i A Year Book of School Improvement in Arkansas [1909]. 



112 HISTOEY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ARKANSAS. 

school equipment and facilities for each dollar put into the campaign 
by the Southern Education Board. 

Teachers' reading circle. — The teachers of the State are slowly 
coming into their own through their growing class consciousness and 
its expression in the State teachers' association and similar organiza- 
tions. They are beginning to realize their power, and since they 
have begun to express themselves fully and boldly on matters of 
public moment they are coming to have more influence on educa- 
tional legislation, which is now ceasing to be the football of politics. 

The State furnishes normal training through a six-weeks' course 
at the State university; through the normal school for whites at 
Conway and the branch normal school at Pine Bluff for negroes; 
through the agricultural-training schools at Jonesboro, Russellville, 
Magnolia, and Monticello; and through the county institutes. Some 
teachers also make use of correspondence courses, while the pro- 
fessional spirit has led many to follow systematic courses of pedagogy 
at home. These have organized themselves into the Arkansas 
teachers' reading circle, which dates from 1905. In 1910 the 
circle reported 2,538 members. By encouraging the reading of 
professional and cultural works the circle has produced such good 
results among the teachers that the same principle is being applied 
in the Arkansas pupils' reading circle. Through these circles it is 
hoped to lay the foundations of public-school libraries, by furnishing 
the teachers with lists of suitable books at reduced prices. 

Southern Education Board. — The Southern Education Board has 
also been of much service in promoting educational interests in 
Arkansas. It has made the education commission possible through 
its financial support, has encouraged the school-improvement asso- 
ciation, and contributed to the funds needed for carrying on the 
campaign of organization. It has also provided the funds for a 
professorship of elementary education in Arkansas, which was filled 
by the appointment in January, 1912, of J. L. Bond, who was then 
deputy State superintendent. He will devote his whole time to the 
work of assisting the rural communities in developing their schools, 
will aid the county and local organizations in their efforts to stand- 
ardize, and when possible will advance the work of consolidation. 

The education commission. — This commission, appointed by Gov. 
Donaghey, is supported out of funds contributed by the Southern 
Education Board. Its purpose is to investigate the school system 
of Arkansas and the laws under which it is organized and operated, 
to make a comparative study of other school systems, to awaken 
sentiment, and to formulate recommendations. The State in the 
last generation has grown marvelously in material and industrial 
resources — 



MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS. 113 

but the laws governing the organization and administration of our public schools 
have made but little progress. Since the framing of the body of our school law fre- 
quent additions, having but little logical unity, have been made. We need a read- 
justment of the system to meet the higher demands of our civilization. 1 

The commission has no authority to make laws. Its functions 
are purely advisory. From a careful, detailed, and comparative 
study of the school situation it is expected (1) to remodel the old 
school law to date; (2) to provide for modern growth and expansion; 
(3) to arouse sentiment by means of bulletins, addresses, etc.; (4) to 
bring about the practical business administration of school affairs. 

The commission consists of 20 well-known citizens, Who represent 
the university, the State Normal School, the city school superin- 
tendents, the county examiners, the rural .teachers, the private col- 
leges, the press, the Federal bench, the circuit judges, the Farmers' 
Union, the labor organizations, the Federation of Women's Clubs, 
the School Improvement Associations, and private business. 

At its first meeting the commission decided to direct its work to 
the investigation of matters pertaining to a State board of education, 
State aid to high schools, and consolidation of schools. 

That this large and representative body of earnest workers is 
already making itself felt is shown by the creation of a State board 
of education and the passing of laws looking to consolidation and the 
support of rural high schools by the assembly of 1911. 

The work of the commission has been done by means of commit- 
tees and published bulletins, of which more than 100,000 copies have 
been distributed. 

State hoard of education. — The complaint has been that, since the 
office of superintendent is an elective one and in general the incum- 
bent is changed every four years, the school system suffers from 
"lack of a continuing policy," that there is "no continuity," that the 
system has "just grown up." It is believed that the State board of 
education will meet these needs. 

Says Supt. Cook, in the Proceedings of the Teachers' Association 
for 1910, page 57: 

We need in our educational system a steady, continuous policy. At present the 
general direction of our educational affairs is in the hands of the State superintendent 
of public instruction. His term of office is two years, and he usually succeeds himself 
for the second term. 

Educational reforms are of slow growth. An examination of the biennial reports 
of the State superintendent of Arkansas since 1868 shows that many excellent reforms, 
tested and approved by experience of other States, have been urged at disjointed 
intervals by the various incumbents in office. It is this lack of continuity that has 
weakened the work of the department of education. 

i Cook's Report, 1909-10, p. 11-12. 
53733°— 12 8 



114 HISTOEY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ARKANSAS. 

It was believed that this situation would be relieved by the creation 
of a permanent State board of education. This was done by act of 
June 1, 1911, which provides for a general supervisory body consist- 
ing of the State superintendent of public instruction and one member 
from each congressional district, who are appointed by the governor 
for a term of 7 years, one going out of office each year. 

Their duties are: 

(1) To manage and invest the permanent school fund and to 
collect all moneys due it. 

(2) To charter academies, colleges, and universities; to determine 
what institutions shall confer degrees and under what conditions; 
to inspect such institutions and, if necessary, revoke their charters. 

(3) To issue State teachers' licenses and to revoke the same. 

(4) To have general supervision of the public schools; to prepare 
and distribute plans and specifications; to provide courses for rural, 
elementary, graded, and high schools ; to control teachers' institutes 
and medical and sanitary inspection; to classify and standardize 
public schools; to provide for new forms of educational effort "and 
shall, in general, take such action as may be necessary to promote 
the organization and increase the efficiency of the educational system 
of the State." 

Arkansas Library Association. — Another important aid to educa- 
tion was the organization of the Arkansas Library Association. This 
organization, the result of the cooperation of the Little Rock Public 
Library and the Carnegie Library of Fort Smith with the Arkansas 
Federation of Women's Clubs, held its first meeting at Little Rock 
on January 26, 1911. The address of the occasion was by Dr. Bost- 
wick, of the St. Louis Public Library, who discussed the public library 
as a public utility, and the agitation for a better library law for Arkan- 
sas began. 

At the second annual meeting, held January 24 and 25, 1912, 
progress was reported. Mrs. Arthur P. Jones spoke on "An ideal 
system of libraries for the State," pointing out needed educational 
reforms and the necessity for a library commission, although the pres- 
ent State law allows any city of the first or second class to obtain 
under certain conditions an appropriation from the general fund for 
a library building or for maintenance purposes. Mr. Harry E. Kelly, 
in discussing the "Value of libraries to Arkansas," sounded a note of 
progress when he advocated the elimination from the constitution of 
all limitations on the right of local taxation, thus allowing each 
community "to levy a tax adequate for schools and libraries." A 
committee was appointed to draw a bill carrying a reasonable appro- 
priation, which is to be presented to the next legislature, for the organ- 
ization of a library commission. The association urgently recom- 
mended — 



MISCELLANEOUS MATTEES. Tig 

in order to keep the work out of political control, that no member of the commie- 
shall be such by virtue of his office, and that the secretary emXed hv T„ 
sroners shall be an experienced librarian and a graduate or fSX^T" 
In the meantime it was determined to put a secretary in the field 
for at le t a t of the year at the expense of the association' 

The interest m local and rural libraries in connection with the nub 
he schools, and catering in particular to the needs of the pupifst 
also Rowing, and some progress has been made in supplying Sb le 
collections to individual schools. "PP^ng suitable 

II. THE NEGEO SCHOOLS. 

nlel S without eleme " tary ed " cation in the South would seem incom- 
plete without specific mention of the negro, and yet in Arkansas 
such is hardly necessary, for before the law there is no distinTon ol 

In ante bellum days the negro received no education in terms of 

l i u • , education which made him of most service as a 

slave and which was of the greatest value when he became frl dman 
He was taught the practical arts of rural life-carpentry blacksnfith" 

ng, shoemakmg, horseshoeing, farming, gardening, overs eW and" 
indoor domestic service. The women were taugh to cool wash 

ron, sew, keep house, nurse, and do domestic service Tht'eZi 
ton was eminently practical; it was in the form which they could 
most easily acquire, to which they were by nature best fitt P 7LT 

kn m o e wiId a r sted on the acquirement - *-2JT- 2£S 

here has been no alteration or curtailment of his priviW es Z 

1 Llb rary Journal, March, 1911, and March, 1912^ " ~~ 



116 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ARKANSAS. 

grammar grade schools, with high schools in the larger towns, the 
whole being supplemented by the Branch Normal College at Pine 
Bluff, which prepares the colored teachers of the State for their work, 
and trains its other pupils in the manual, industrial, and higher 
studies. 

There have never been mixed schools in Arkansas, for the law of 
July 23, 1868, provided for the maintenance of separate schools (sec. 
107), but the general discussions of men and measures, successes and 
failures, which have applied to the white schools during the 44 years 
of their post bellum life apply equally, mutatis mutandis, to the 
colored schools. 

The first schools for negroes in Arkansas were those organized by 
the Freedmen's Bureau. As soon as the Civil War was ended, the 
reconstruction regime established, and the school system organized, 
the freedmen's schools were taken over by the State and adminis- 
tered as a part of the State system. No doubt both were gainers 
thereby, for the system received a number of schools already organ- 
ized and in running order, while the schools for their part were assured 
of a greater permanence under the administration of the State. 

In January, 1870, the State board of education addressed to Gen. 
O.O. Howard, head of the Freedmen's Bureau, a memorial in which 
they cited — 

the great amount of prejudice which has prevailed in many localities against the inaugu- 
ration and maintenance of common schools since the work of reconstruction has been 
completed and especially against those schools designed for the use and benefit of our 
colored citizens. 

They also asked financial help for the Arkansas Journal of Edu- 
cation. It does not appear that the help requested was forthcom- 
ing, but it is evident that there was soon a clash with the school 
directors of Little Kock on the matter of authority. The State board 
of education, declaring that under sections 101, 106, and 107 of the 
general school law they had ample power in the premises, ordered the 
teachers in the colored free public schools — 

in addition to the reports they are required to make to the trustees or to school boards 
under the State department, also to make a report promptly at the end of each month 
to the superintendent of schools for the freedmen, and that said schools receive their 
pro rata share of the school fund, the same as schools for white children. 

Against this order the Little Kock school board issued a counter 
order to the effect that the board would not "hereafter pay or employ 
any teacher who recognizes any authority for the control of their 
schools other than this board." 

No other mention of the quarrel has been found, but it is not hard 
to guess which was winner, for he who holds the purse strings has 
the whiphand. The schools in that city seem to have developed 
pari passu, for as early as 1882 there was a high school for negro 



MISCELLANEOUS MATTEES. 117 

pupils, the course of study of which was the same as that in the high 
school for the whites. 

Difficulty is experienced in some of the northern counties, where 
the negro children are scattered. In such cases practical consolida- 
tion is permitted. In the majority of cases the school terms of the 
races are equal, and each receives its proper proportion of the school 
funds; thus, in 1890, according to Shinns report, 107,683 negro 
children received $319,818.51 and 297,904 white children received 
$884,774.88. 

The professional instruction of teachers has not been neglected. 
In December, 1911, the Colored Teachers' Association had about 300 
members. The Branch Normal School was established by act of 
1873, opened in 1875, and until 1902 was under direction of Prof. J. C. 
Corbin, who had been State superintendent in reconstruction days; 
since then it has been under Prof. Isaac Fisher, a graduate of Tus- 
kegee. Besides the work offered in regular classes at the Branch 
Normal School, Prof. Corbin conducted many county institutes under 
the auspices of the State. In 1897 and 1898 there were 33 normal 
schools held for negroes by aid of State and Peabody funds. They 
were scattered over the State and were conducted by the best colored 
teachers. The total enrollment in 1897 was 2,172 ; in 1898 it was 2,140 ; 
the per cent of enrollment was 64 in 1897 and 65 in 1898. In 1899 
there were 15 institutes held for negroes and 12 in 1900; with an 
attendance of 761 and 594, respectively. 

In recent years the Branch Normal School has come to serve not 
only as a place for normal and industrial instruction but also for 
instruction in the higher literary studies and as a center for the social 
life and thought of the race. It is even entering on still larger duties, 
for Prof. Fisher says that the school — 

must, by some subtle process, remove from the mind of the average negro pupil the 
belief that the State cares little for his education. * * * If I were asked to give 
one result, aside from the purely literary value of this school which makes its support 
a paying investment to Arkansas, I would say that the gradual removal of distrust and 
hatred from the minds of negro pupils justifies every dollar spent for the maintenance 
of the Branch Normal College. 

And looking into the future he adds : 

If this school is seriously expected to reach the criminal class [of negroes] which does 
not go to school, there must be placed in the hands of those who direct its work broader 
opportunities of social service than the school now possesses. It is not enough to teach 
the children; means must be found by which the people may be reached. 

The statistics of the negro schools, so far as they can be separated 
from the general State statistics, are given as a part of the general 
educational statistics. 



118 HISTORY OP PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ARKANSAS. 

III. REVIEW AND ASPIRATIONS. 

When we come to cast a backward glance over the road along 
which public school education in Arkansas has come, we have many 
reasons for encouragement. 

Based on Federal land grants the public schools developed slowly 
and unevenly and did not accomplish as much as might have been 
reasonably expected. Because of carelessness and ignorance, rather 
than by reason of direct dishonesty, a large part of the Federal 
endowment had been lost before the outbreak of the Civil War and a 
larger part went down in that maelstrom. But while much of the 
school lands passed into private hands without due compensation, it 
was only the price of the wild lands that was lost, for the land itself 
remained and has been an increasingly valuable source of taxation. 

Such schools as were organized in ante bellum days gave a good 
account of themselves and proved their right to exist. Not only did 
they in the private and public elementary schools and academies 
teach the three R's and the school subjects growing immediately out 
of them, but they even ventured out into unexplored fields; some 
undertook to teach agriculture, and in 1840 Gov. Yell sent a message 
to the assembly dealing with the subject of agricultural and mechan- 
ical instruction in such a way as to give him a place among the 
pioneers in that field of education. There was also as early as 1843 a 
noteworthy effort to furnish a uniform series of textbooks to the 
schools — not free textbooks, as we understand the term to-day, but 
at any rate uniform textbooks offered at uniform and reduced prices. 

The various efforts at organization were but little better than 
failures, yet each successive move added to the experience of the 
people and had evolved so far by 1854 as to require a general super-' 
vision of the system by the secretary of state, and this remained the 
nominal condition of affairs to the beginning of the Civil War. After 
that was over, with an alacrity not to be expected and a marvelous 
penetration of the future, the war-stricken State, then in the hands of 
ex-Confederates, abandoned the old system and placed the hope 
of the future on taxation. Then came the Reconstructionists who 
built on the still wider basis of taxation and education for all regard- 
less of race. 

But these seeds were sown on stony ground and not in the deep rich 
soil of popular approval. Schools sprung up, indeed, but were soon 
scorched by the hot sun of reconstruction politics. Then Hill made a 
new planting; Denton watered and nourished by his persuasive 
eloquence; Thompson carried them through their tender years; 
Shinn taught them the lessons of their own strength, encouraged self- 
reliance through the work already accomplished, pointed the way for 
greater usefulness and higher development, inspired dissatisfaction 



MISCELLANEOUS MATTEES. 119 

with attainments already reached, and demanded the opportunity 
for the greater usefulness that comes with more adequate resources. 
Jordan, Kuykendall, Doyne, and Hinemon strengthened the stakes 
and enlarged the boundaries of this educational Zion. They devel- 
oped the plans undertaken, reenforced the weak places in the system, 
evolved new lines of work, and extended the scope, scheme, and use- 
fulness of the schools. By a continuous aggressive campaign they 
proved their importance, their necessity to the State even to the 
dullest, and after a campaign covering more than a dozen years, 
succeeded in having the constitutional tax limit raised from 2 to 3 
mills for the State and from 5 to 7 mills for the districts. 

Then Cook entered upon their labors and, building on their founda- 
tion, undertook present-day problems which could not have been 
considered in earlier days: High schools, compulsory attendance, 
consolidation and transportation, agricultural and other rural schools, 
correlation, libraries, and many others. 

In his report for 1909-10, just published, Cook can well afford to 
point out the immense strides that have been made in the last few 
years and in particular in the last biennial period. Since 1900 the 
value of public school property has increased from $2,500,000 to 
$7,000,000; the school term from 77.4 days to 106.5 days (113 in 
1911); the number of teachers from 7,000 to more than 9,500; the 
average number of pupils per teacher has been reduced from 72 to 60; 
the revenue per capita for each census child has been raised from 
$4.13 to $7.82; the average monthly salary of teachers has risen 
from $32 to $56 per school month, and the average salary per school 
year has been raised to $294. 

In the past two years, because of the increase in school funds, school 
property has augmented in value by $2,000,000, and 2J weeks has 
been added to the average length of the school terms. The spirit 
of class consciousness among the teachers is steadily growing, as is 
manifested by increased efforts, by means of summer institutes, 
correspondence schools, systematic home courses, reading circles, etc., 
to add to their professional equipment. These agencies for the 
improvement of teachers are in addition to the summer normal 
schools which were instituted by the State for the first time in 1910 
and the six weeks' summer courses now offered at the State normal 
and at the State university. These means of professional improve- 
ment make it possible gradually to raise the standard for teachers' 
certificates. These courses are so arranged that the teachers attending 
may receive credits for their work at the summer schools to be applied 
on the regular normal course, the completion of which gives a profes- 
sional license good for six years and convertible at the end of that 
time into a State life license. 

The local farmers' institutes, conducted by the College of Agricul- 
ture, have proved directly profitable to the farmers of the State and 



120 HISTOEY.OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ABKANSAS. 

have done much to popularize agricultural education and to give a 
wider appreciation of the practical value of this training. Com- 
pulsory attendance is effective in 40 counties and "the percentage 
of gain in school attendance was 11 times as great in territory under 
the compulsory attendance laws as was the gain per cent in the 
remainder of the State." Forty-one counties are using uniform 
textbooks and eight have changed from the old county examiner to 
the new county superintendent. There has been contributed, 
mainly by the General Education Board, the sum of $18,500 to 
advance educational interests. This has been divided as follows: 
For school improvement and extension work, $3,000; for supervising 
secondary education, $7,000; for the agricultural department of the 
State normal school, $5,000; for the Arkansas education commis- 
sion, $3,500. 

In his address before the State Teachers' Association in December 
last, Supt. Cook attributes the educational accomplishments of the 
last few years largely to this commission. He says in part: 

This wonderful showing did not come about by accident. It stands as a concrete 
proof of the great educational awakening in our State. It is very significant that, at a 
time when our legislators were almost hopelessly divided on many important issues, 
there was always a safe majority for all progressive public-school measures. 

For more than a year before the last general assembly opened its session the Arkansas 
education commission had been faithfully at work, explaining and building up senti- 
ment among the people for certain basic measures necessary to give firm foundation 
for our educational growth. The work of the education commission was fully pre- 
sented to this assembly last year and unanimously indorsed by recorded resolution, 
and most of those present have some share in the great legislative victory that came. 
The teachers not only indorsed, but actively supported the work of the commission. 
The press and the pulpit rang over the State with news notices, editorials, discourses, 
and sermons. 

The citizens responded and in many instances elected men to the legislature who 
were pledged to the support of the school measures exploited by our education com- 
mission. These men were true to these pledges, as our acts of 1911 plainly show, and 
many of those who aspire to seats in the next general assembly find their most effective 
campaign argument in their educational records and in their more or less well-known 
standing for educational progress. 

Better still, the interrelations of the school and the schoolhouse 
on life in general and on community life in particular is now being 
realized as never before. This chapter can not be better closed than 
by quoting in full Prof. Torreyson's Kural School Outline: 

1. The man or woman who can make rural schools do for the people of Arkansas 
what it is possible for them to do will be the greatest benefactor the State has ever had. 

2. The greatest need for the schools is not more money, more efficient teachers, or a 
better system, though these are necessary; it is vision — that the people of the State 
may see the possibilities for public service in the utilization of the rural schools — that 
an ideal rural public school — one that shall touch the community life at all points — be 
formed in the minds of the people. When the people see that kind of school they will 
want it and will have it. 



MISCELLANEOUS MATTEES. 121 

3. The ideal public school — 

(a) Is a consolidated school which makes possible sufficient taxable wealth, a proper 
building, long term, high-school grades also, accurate grading, close supervision, 
adequate equipment. 

(b) Has a democratic course of study, including usual literary course, agriculture, 
manual training, household economics, commercial transactions. 

(c) A continuation school for adults, including illustration, teaching bookkeeping, 
commercial geography, commercial arithmetic, commercial law, economics, current 
events, etc. . 

(d) A meeting place for women's social and study clubs, farmers' clubs, farm dem- 
onstrations and exhibits, boys' corn clubs and exhibits, cooking and sewing and like 
demonstrations and exhibits. 

(e) A place for entertainments of all kinds, lectures on practical and scientific sub- 
jects, politics, school exhibitions, debating clubs, moving pictures. 

(f) Contain a public circulating library. 

(g) A place for Saturday afternoon athletic games, 
(i) A place for nonsectarian religious meetings. 

4. The people will get an ideal like this when the teachers get it and with the assist- 
ance of the preachers and newspapers spread it, and by making an object lesson of 
such a school in favored localities. 1 

i Proceedings Arkansas Teachers' Association, 1911, pp. 54, 227-218. 



122 



HISTOEY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN AKKANSAS. 



PUBLIC SCHOOL STATISTICS, 1868-1912. 
Table I. — School population, teachers, property, and school year. 



Years. 


Total 
school 
popula- 
tion. 


Total 
number 
teachers. 


Negro 
teach- 
ers. 


Number 
school- 
houses. 


Value 
school prop- 
erty. 


Days in 
school 
year. 


1868 * 








632 

872 
1,289 
1,591 
1,778 
1,035 






1869 


176,910 
182,474 
196,237 
194,314 
148,128 
168,929 
168, 929 
189, 130 
203,567 
216,475 
236,600 
247,457 
272,841 
289,617 
304,962 
323,943 
338,506 
358,006 
377,736 
388,129 
404,379 
405,587 
418,566 
422,252 
425,349 
436,335 
448,941 
456,736 
463,565 
465,565 
472,508 
484,619 
491,746 
495,368 
502,808 
517,433 
527,524 
530,571 
533,843 
544,519 
557,468 
573,842 
585,749 
603,226 


1,335 
2,302 
2,128 
2,035 
1,481 




$128,585 
235,530 
199,133 
255,046 
354,791 




1870 




1871 




1872 




1873 




1874 




1875 












1876 


461 
826 
875 
1,458 
1,872 
2,169 
2,501 
2,462 
2,899 
3,582 
3,691 
4,167 
4,664 
5,945 
4,785 
4,945 
5,641 
6,314 
6,286 
6,396 
6,673 
7,181 
7,073 
6,727 
6,959 
7,472 
7,723 
7,474 
7,762 
7,826 
7,581 
8,113 
8,297 
9,164 
9,522 
9,834 
10,175 


""m 

58i" 

"'i,677" 

1,173 
1,374 
1,408 

*"i,"564" 
1,537 
1,367 
1,441 
1,556 
1,643 
1,488 
1,636 
1,652 
1,402 
1,651 
1,616 
1,864 
1,885 
1,991 
1,948 


1,399 
610 
480 
712 
785 
968 
1,286 
1,372 
1,453 
1,676 
1,769 
2,102 
2,452 
2,535 
2,592 
2,736 
2,946 
3,544 
3,866 
4,113 
4,440 
4,865 
4,936 
5,015 
5,233 
5,254 
5,063 
5,478 
5,533 
5,510 
5,288 
5,714 
5,704 
6,008 
6,182 
6,306 
6,338 


365,415 

166,792 

118,513 

151,564 

198,607 

283,125 

254,217 

294,519 

384,827 

424,521 

554,873 

644,067 

705,276 

788,828 

649,069 

1,765,831 

1,485,071 

1,442,387 

1,769,086 

1,612,277 

1,929,206 

2,130,092 

2,294,396 

2,635,367 

2,616,536 

2,564,165 

2,901,212 

3,126,646 

3,355,292 

3,171,361 

3,607,783 

4,038,627 

4,850,857 

6,067,342 

6,939,320 

7,872,856 

10,131,828 




1877 




1878 




1879 




1880 




1881 




1882 




1883 




1884 




1885 




1886 




1887 




1888 




1889 




1890 




1891 


76.67 


1892 


73.82 


1893 


73.39 


1894 


73.06 


1895 


71.37 


1896 


69.68 


1897 


66.56 


1898 


68.87 


1899 


77.50 


1900 


77.48 


1901 


84.00 


1902 


91.50 


1903 ■. 


92.00 


1904*. 


92.78 


1905 


88.30 


1906 


88.60 


1907 


93.32 


1908 


93.95 


1909 


98.20 


1910 


106.50 


1911 


113. 90 


1912 


117.90 







1 Up to 1876 the school year ended with the fiscal year, on Sept. 30. Since then it has ended with June 30* 
The school age is 6 to 21. 



PUBLIC SCHOOL STATISTICS. 
Table II. — Enrollment and attendance. 



123 





Total school 
enrollment. 1 


Average school at- 
tendance. 


Negro. 


Years. 


I-H 

B 


1« 

Ph 
+j O 

a a 

PL, H 


1 


a © 

°.sl 

8"Sg 

CP -is 


i&8 

S ft© 
Ph 


| 

"c3 

3 

o 
ft 

"o , 
o 

A 

o 
m 


1 

5 

<X> 

"3 
o 

CO 


1« 
A © 
o 
ra 

.2 

° Ph.2 
S&2 

Ph 


4i 

03 

Jg 

op a 
< 


=1 too 

II 

CD > 

Ph 


2 > a5 

O 03 O 

•■-I a a 
°SS 

S3 © 

© cute 

klS 

Ph 


1868 
























1869 


68,823 

107,908 

109,309 

93,974 

59,587 


38.9 
59.1 
55.7 
48.3 
40.2 








40,478 
38,684 
41,655 
16,417 
37,293 


10,884 

19,280 

13,210 

2,500 


26.8 
49.8 
31.7 








1870 .. 














1871 














1872 














1873 
















1874... 


















1875 
























1876 


15,890 
33,370 
33,740 
55,049 
70,973 
98, 744 
117,696 
112,233 
153,216 
164,757 
175,935 
183,095 
202, 754 
216,152 
205,262 
242,117 
251,452 
264,576 
285,159 
292, 305 
296,575 
319,053 
303,808 
301,387 
314,662 
323,859 
340,695 
337,589 
339,542 
335,765 
345, 146 
348,152 
366,054 
374, 104 
395,978 
404,760 
409,746 


8.4 
16.3 
15.5 
23.2 
28.3 
36.1 
40.6 
36.4 
47.3 
48.6 
49.1 
48.4 
52.2 
53.4 
50.6 
57.8 
59.5 
62.1 
65.3 
65.1 
64.7 
68.6 
67.4 
63.7 
64.9 
65.8 
68.7 
67.1 
65.6 
63.6 
65.0 
63.3 
67.2 
67.1 
69.0 
69.1 
67.9 








27,574 
43,518 
46,017 
55,901 
54,332 
65,206 
69,113 
76,429 
76, 770 
86,216 
91,818 
98,512 
99, 748 
106, 714 
107,683 
112,176 
114,471 
115,981 
120,166 
123,645 
124,957 
127,635 
129,397 
131,016 
135,554 
138,230 
141,520 
143,048 
146,880 
148,851 
151,461 
152,044 
157,543 
162,187 
169,007 
174, 503 
175,503 












1877 . 


















1878 


















1879 


















1880 


















1881 . . 


















1882 


56,291 


48.0 


19.4 


23,139 
28,132 
37,568 
42,461 
46,798 
48,452 
50,570 
56, 382 
51,003 
63,830 
64,191 
66,921 
76,050 
76,987 
78,276 
82,909 
79,561 
76,546 
84,317 
84,481 
90,109 
87,895 
90,437 
87,125 
90,185 
89,538 
94,292 
98,755 
100,640 
109,618 
109,731 


33.5 
36.8 
48.9 
49.2 
50.6 
49.2 
50.7 
52.8 
47.3 
56.9 
56.9 
57.7 
63.2 
62.2 
62.6 
64.9 
61.4 
58.4 
62.2 
61.1 
63. 8 
61.4 
61.5 
58.5 
59.5 
58.2 
59.9 
60.9 
59.5 
62.8 
62.5 








1883 








1884... 














1885 














1886 . 














1887... 














1888 














1889 














1890. 














1891 . . . 


123,625 
140,445 
145,835 
166,544 
170,410 
171,948 
197,510 
191,447 
177,307 
195,401 
200, 100 
214,981 
213,372 
212,131 
207,440 
214,281 
220,621 
232,670 
238, 329 
255,135 
255,405 
261,747 


51.0 

55.8 
55.1 
58.3 
58.2 
58.1 
61.9 
63.0 
58.8 
62.1 
61.7 
63.1 
63.2 
62.4 
61.7 
62.0 
63.3 
63.5 
63.7 
69.4 
60.6 
63.9 


29.5 
33.2 
34.3 
38.1 
37.8 
37.6 
42.6 
41.1 
37.5 
40.3 
40.6 
43.3 
42.4 
40.9 
39.3 
40.3 
41.3 
42.7 
42.7 
44.4 
43.6 
43.4 








1892 








1893 








1894 








1895 








1896 


51,486 
48,647 
45,876 
52,656 
52, 721 
56,290 
54,147 
58,177 
53,329 
54,564 
55,083 
59,087 
59,597 
62,437 
66,958 
68,040 


55.5 
62.1 
61.1 
59.9 
62.4 
62.4 
62.4 
61.6 
64.3 
61.2 
60.5 
61.5 
62.6 
60.3 
62.0 
61.0 
62.0 


34.8 


1897 


40.3 


1898 


37.5 


1899 


35.0 


1900 


38.8 


1901 


38.1 


1902 


39.7 


1903 


37.8 


1904 


39.6 


1905 


35.8 


1906 


36.0 


1907 


36.2 


1908 


37.5 


1909 


36.1 


1910 


36.9 


1911 


38.4 


1912 


38.7 







Including both the white and the colored. 



124 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ARKANSAS. 

Table III. — School revenues. 



Years. 


State tax. 


District 
tax. 


Poll tax. 


Balance 
on hand. 


All 

other 
sources. 


Total. 


Revenue 

per 

child. 


1868 


$190,492 
187,427 
167,973 
212,376 


$110,176 
334, 952 
320,810 
193,089 








i $300, 669 

536,896 

488, 783 

413, 150 

210, 176 

435,349 

65, 522 

40,444 

302, 670 

269,621 

276,647 

271,184 

285,471 

710,461 

3 722,371 

740,244 

963, 660 

1,199,005 

1,327,710 

1,333,147 

1,383,909 

1,433,666 

1,622,510 

1,679,666 

1,739,586 

1, 685, 744 

1, 700, 734 

1,599,257 

1,675,991 

1,779,695 

1, 761, 820 

1,861,199 

2,005,241 

2,121,491 

2,365,943 

2,433,491 

2, 701, 734 

2,980,453 

3,346,091 

3,568,027 

3,703,009 

4,363,830 

4, 530, 131 

4,951,499 

5,275,653 




1869 








$3 03 


1870 








2 71 


1871 






$7,684 


2 10 


1872 






1 08 


1873 


17,840 


220,133 








2 94 


1874 








39 


1875 












24 


1876 


105,506 
85,268 
65,864 
109, 561 
111,605 


87,739 
101,407 
77,645 
92,675 
77,474 








1 60 


1877 






33,381 
10,478 
20, 811 
19,406 


1 32 


1878 






1 27 


1879 






1 15 


1880 






1 15 


1881 






2 60 


1882 


177,985 
167,880 
150,688 
276,629 
239,989 
264,006 
315,403 
289,004 
295, 492 
321,545 
341, 621 
301, 743 

331, 786 
321,221 
328, 802 

387,436 

423,064 

490,017 

559,593 

542,685 

593,513 

607, 140 

706, 711 

688,996 

1,043,494 

1,040,773 

1,090,402 

1,367,653 


237, 303 
261,208 
346, 521 
343, 885 
445, 563 
462, 191 
505,069 
503,816 
545,843 
600, 102 
571,923 
699,065 

639, 627 
698,649 
761, 082 

762, 110 

836, 181 
923,834 
924, 615 
1,050,070 
1,191,343 
1,309,012 
1,332,199 
1,549,860 
1,715,808 
1,891,333 
2,178,855 
2,326,239 


$91,997 
108,038 
165,929 
124,973 
159, 133 
133, 193 
- 146,604 
143, 802 
240, 618 
154, 728 
167, 419 
168, 131 

148,983 
169,326 
190,584 

170,050 

183, 248 
186, 490 
171,198 
190, 577 
188, 260 
212,088 
204,980 
198, 739 
192,398 
192,236 
* 349, 223 
( 5 ) 


2 $147, 828 
137, 861 
260, 772 
386,961 
456, 134 
421, 694 
370,942 
482, 133 
526,675 
592,429 
643,316 
500,015 

464, 419 
469, 024 
447, 607 

526,218 

636,206 

724, 897 

759, 043 

870,461 

938, 517 

1,003,779 

1,139,902 

1,101,147 

1,122,425 

1,280,198 

1,274,824 

61,398,699 


22, 821 
65,256 
39, 748 
66, 556 
26,889 
52,062 
45, 890 
14,909 
13,880 
10,860 
15,305 
16, 789 


2 49 


1883 


2 42 


1884 


2 97 


1885 


3 25 


1886 


3.71 


1887 .- 

1888 


3.53 
3 54 


1889 


3 54 


1890 


4 00 


1891 

1892 


4.01 
4 12 


1893 


3 94 




3 67 


1895 


3 56 


1896 


3.66 


1897 


51,618 

15,385 

42, 610 

40, 703 

19, 041 

47,040 

68, 817 

214, 070 

184,233 

164,265 

289, 703 

125, 589 

58, 195 

183,062 


3.84 




3.78 


1899 


3.51 




4.13 


1901 


4.31 


1902 


4.81 


1903 


4.84 


1904 

1905 


5.22 
5 65 


1906 

1907 

1908 


6.36 
6.68 
6.80 


1909 


7.83 


1910 


7.89 


1911 


8.45 




8.74 







1 There seems to have been collected for the fiscal year 1868 the sum of $67,883.97 (Auditor's Report, 1868, 
p. 43), the unexpended remainder of which was doubtless carried to 1869 and included in the $300,669.63. 
The figures as here given (1868-1881 inclusive) are from Thompson's Report, 1887-8 (pp. 11-13). They 
are repeated in the Shinn Reports for 1891-2 and 1893-4. They differ often from the figures in the origi- 
nal reports, but are here given preference, as they are presumed to represent results of a later revision of 
those figures. 

2 By comparing the original reports it will be found that the balance reported as being on hand at the 
end of one year on June 30 often differs from the balance on hand at the beginning of the next year on 
July 1. The balances here used are, when obtainable, those on hand July 1. 

3 From Report for 1881-2, p. 53, Thompson gives $502,456.48. 

4 Includes fines and forfeitures. 

5 This is included in district tax, column 2. 

6 In explanation of this large surplus, Hon. George B. Cook, State superintendent, writes under date of 
April 25, 1912: "I advise that at the close of the school year ending June 30, 1911, the unexpended balance 
amounted to $1,441,367.49. Of this amount, however, only $278,757.61 was to the credit of the special 
school districts, or the districts in towns and cities, and the remainder, or $1,162,609.88, was to the credit 
of the common-school districts. 

"Under our laws only the special school districts may borrow money, issue bonds, etc., and the great 
majority have done so: therefore, the unexpended balances on hand in these districts may be looked upon 
as sinking funds or interest funds to take care of these bond obligations. 

"This department has no information nor records or reports as to the amount of this indebtedness of the 
special school districts throughout the State. 

"In regard to the common-school districts, since they can not go in debt but may anticipate a tax which 
has already been levied, it is necessary for such districts to secure a large portion of their building or better- 
ment fund in advance before any extensive improvements are undertaken. 

"Again, we have unfortunately no logical division into school districts, the result being that many of 
the districts are very poor with funds inadequate to support the school while some few have a dispropor- 
tionately large b alance on hand . 

" This balance is actual money in the hands of the county treasurers to the credit of the various districts." 



PUBLIC SCHOOL STATISTICS. 
Table IV. — School expenditures. 



125 



Years. 


Teachers' sal- 
aries. 


All other 
expenses. 


Total. 


Expendi- 
ture per 
capita of 
average 
attendance. 


Apportion- 
ment from 

common 
school fund 
per capita 

of school 
population. 


1868 






$100.00 
| 760,468.74 

| 970,306.74 
318,997.77 






1869 


$188,397.00 
405,748.37 
424, 443. 97 
355, 624. 90 
259,747.08 














1871 














1873 








1874 








1875 












1876 


75,399.67 

135,121.85 

121,307.10 

166,647.73 

192,664.64 

316,893.11 

388,616.07 

414,911.12 

441,959.07 

545, 168. 21 

714,118.11 

719, 597. 23 

790, 133. 35 

830,040.76 

869, 899. 50 

907, 141. 59 

987, 150. 97 

1,004,925.85 

1,051,608.91 

95b, 241. 90 

1,054,364.39 

1,090,511.30 

1,065,287.80 

1,121,797.04 

1,208,805.10 

1,189,471.91 

1,304,655.71 

1,357,268.36 

1,472,652.02 

1,657,877.81 

1,769,092.19 

1,973,819.36 

2,022,378.37 

2,509,471.60 

2, 708, 367. 19 

2,966,176.65 




119,403.20 

143,330.82 

148,392.97 

205, 448. 90 

238,055.68 

388,412.22 

503, 856. 51 

479,471.45 

576, 698. 99 

742, 870. 92 

866, 892. 45 

835,048.19 

901,190.58 

967,608.60 

1,016,776.26 

1,0 7 6,815.34 

1,159,652.91 

1,171,454.46 

1,244,818.47 

1,130,232.75 

1,232,298.08 

1,276,935.00 

1,230,362.03 

1,292,459.56 

1,369,809.73 

1,396,594.61 

1,592,110.33 

1,581,915.42 

1,729,878.63 

1,955,427.83 

2,230,948.98 

2,413,767.85 

2, 537, 122. 43 

3,110,164.60 

3,187,082.66 

3,510,132.10 

3,837,549.08 






1877 


$25, 283. 07 

8,223.08 

24, 859. 55 

26,742.60 






1878 






1879 




$0.73 


1880 




.79 


1881 






1882 


55,332.75 
64, 560. 33 
45,060.63 
184, 000. 10 
152, 774. 34 
115,450.96 
111,057.23 
137,567.84 
146, 876. 76 
169, 673. 75 
172,501.94 
166, 528. 61 
193, 209. 56 
173,990.85 
178,621.69 
186, 423. 70 
165,014.23 
170, 662. 52 
161,004.63 
207, 122. 70 
287, 454. 62 
224, 647. 06 
257, 226. 61 
297, 550. 02 
461,856.79 
439,948.49 
514, 744. 06 
605,796.00 
478,715.47 
543, 955. 45 






1883 






1884 






1885 






1886 




.67 


1887 




.69 


1888 




.81 


1889 




.46 


1890 - 




.70 


1891 


8.71 
8.25 
8.03 
7.47 
6.63 
7.16 
6.46 
6.42 
7.34 
7.01 
6.98 

7.41 
8.15 
9.42 
10.41 
10.94 
10.90 
13.05 
12.49 
13.74 
14.66 


1.13 


1892 


.80 


1893 


.78 


1894 


.78 


1895 


.78 


1896 


.72 


1897 


.76 


1898 


.74 


1899 


.98 


1900 


1.01 


1901 


.98 


1902 


1.09 


1903 


1.07 


1904 


1.10 


1905 




1906 




1907 


1.27 


1908 


1.87 


1909 


1.82 


1910 


2.09 






1912 


2.05 











126 HISTOEY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ARKANSAS. 

Table V. — Assessed valuation of property. 



Years. 


Value. 


Years. 


Value. 


1838 t 


$15,564,000 
23,283,000 
22,011,000 
24,119,000 
22,302,000 
21,090,000 
19,940,000 
20,769,000 
21, 159, 000 
27, 178, 000 
28, 904, 000 
33, 406, 000 
34,935,000 
42,938,000 
41,000,000 
53, 433, 000 
63, 669, 000 
65, 479, 000 
61, 290, 000 
88,649,000 
100, 146, 000 
122, 455, 000 
120,475,000 


1875 


$91,590,000 
93,954,000 
86,243,000 
89,131,000 
85,872,000 
90,511,000 
99,826,000 
94,081,000 
126,826,000 
132,053,000 
134,406,000 
139,902,000 
148,259,000 
156, 954, 000 
172,408,000 
174,737,000 
180,053,000 
174,828,000 
173,526,000 
173,861,000 
174, 658, 000 
175,397,000 
177,426,000 
179,171,000 
189, 999, 000 
201, 908, 000 
225,267,000 
224,401,000 
249, 779, 000 


1839 


1876 


1840 


1877 


1841 


1878 


1842 


1879 


1843 


1880 


1844 


1881 


1845 


1882 


1846 


1883 


1847 


1884 


1848 


1885 


1849 


1886 


1850 


1887 


1851. 


1888 


1852 


1889 


1853 


1890 


1854 


1891 


1855 


1892 


1856 


1893 


1857 


1894 


1858 


1895 


1859 


1896 


I860 


1897 


i86i ...: 


1898 






1899 


1863 




1900 


1864 




1901.. 


1865 


38,723,000 


1902 


1866 


1903 


1867 




1904 


261,377,000 
299,730,000 
302,181,000 
328,232,000 
327,023,000 
374, 945, 000 
380,520,000 
425,478,000 


1868 




1905 


1869 




1906 


1870 




1907 


1871 




1908 




101,803,000 
104,560,000 
87,693,000 


1909 


1873 


1910 


1874 


1911 







Table VI. — Apportionment of common school fund, September 2, 1912. 

Amount on hand from various sources July 1, 1912 $36, 068. 97 

Received from proceeds of 3 mill State tax 1, 184, 494. 27 

Received from State lands (60 and 40) 20.69 

Received from commissioner's sales and redemptions 34. 16 

Received from sales of sixteenth section lands 13, 919. 14 

Received from 3 per cent interest on permanent school fund 34, 035. 00 

Received from fines, anti-trust suits 15, 750. 00 

Received from fertilizer fund 8, 068. 27 

Total 1,292,390.50 

Net amount apportioned ($2.05 per capita) $1, 236. 613. 30 

State aid apportioned to high schools 50, 000. 00 

Correction 1911 apportionment (Howard County) 6a 58 

Balance in Treasury unapportioned 5, 713. 62 

Total 1.292,390.50 

Total enumeration of children, 1912 603, 226 

Amount apportioned to each child 2. 05 

Increase in school population over 1911, 3 per cent or 17,477 



BIBLIOGEAPHY. 127 

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARKANSAS. 

1. PRIMARY SOURCES. 

Arkansas Education Commission: 

Various bulletins. 
Arkansas Journal of Education, Vols. I-III, 1870-72. 

Vol. I in newspaper form; not seen. Vols. II and III in magazine form, in Bureau of Education. 
Edited by Thomas Smith, State superintendent. 

Arkansas Rural School Committee Report [1906]. 0. pp. 20. 
A virile report, reviewing the school situation, by J. H. Reynolds. 

Arkansas School Improvement Association, Year Book, 1909, and various other 

pamphlets. 
Arkansas School Journal, Vols. 1 and 2, Nov., 1880, to Oct., 1882. 

Succeeded by Kellogg's Eclectic Monthly and Educational Journal, Jan.-July, 1883, forming Volume 3. 

Arkansas School Journal, Little Rock. 

Vol. 3, No. 7, is for May, 1899. Last number seen is that for March, 1912. 

Arkansas State Teachers' Association. 

Forty-fourth annual session held Dec, 1911. Proceedings printed from time to time in the Arkansas 
Journal of Education, the Arkansas School Journal, the Arkansas Teacher, the Reports of the State 
Superintendent, and also separately. Reports of proceedings in separate form have been seen for 1871, 
1883, 1884, 1887, 1889, 1893, 1902-1906, 1908-1911. 

Arkansas Teacher, edited by Josiah H. Shinn, Jan., 1884, to Dec, 1885, 2 volumes, 

various sizes, published at Russellville, then at Little Rock. 
City School Reports (Special School Districts). 

Annual reports, in more or less complete sets, of Little Rock, Fayetteville, Fort Smith, Helena, Hot 
Springs, Van Buren, Pine Bluff, and others. 
General Assembly: House and Senate Journals, 1827 to date. 
Governor's messages, etc., 1827 to date (in public documents). 
Laws and digests: Session Laws, etc., 1819 to date. Digests, codes, revisals. 
Newspapers: 

Arkansas Advocate, 1830-33, vols. 1-3, C. P. Bertrand, editor. 
Arkansas Times, 1835-43. 
Arkansas Gazette, 1826-7. 
Public documents, etc., 1840 to date. 
Public Instruction, Reports of Superintendent, 1868 to date. 

Also many miscellaneous documents issued from this office dealing with the various phases of admin- 
istrative work. 

School laws, 1843 to date, with special editions since 1868. 
Treasurer's reports, etc., 1840 to date. 
U. S. Census Reports, 1850-1910. 
U. S. Statutes at Large. 

Many laws in the earlier volumes dealing with Arkansas. 
Washburn, Cephas. Biography of, by J. W. Moore, Richmond, 1869. 



128 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ARKANSAS. 

2. SECONDARY SOURCES. 

Arkansas Historical Association: Publications, vols. 1, 2, and 3; Fayetteville, 1906- 

1911. 

Contains many articles and suggestions dealing with various phases of education, but little documentary 
material. 

Cantrell, Ellen Harrell. 

The annals of Christ Church Parish of Little Rock, Arkansas. Little Rock, 1900. 

Mainly religious, but suggestive on the social side. 

Fishback, Wm. M. 

Arkansas, in Why the Solid South. Baltimore, 1890. 
Hallum, John. 

Biographical and Pictorial History of Arkansas. Vol. 1. Albany, 1887. 
No other volume published. Much suggestive material on men and events. 

Pope, Wm. F. 

Early days in Arkansas. Little Rock, 1895. 

Many pen pictures of early leaders. 

Reynolds, John H. 

Makers of Arkansas History. New York, 1905. D. pp. 294. 
Reynolds, John H., and Thomas, David Y. 

History of University of Arkansas. Fayetteville, Ark. 1910. O. pp. 555. 

Has preliminary chapters on Early Schools in Arkansas and the Seminary grant. 

Shinn, Josiah H. 

History of Education in Arkansas, Washington, 1900. O. pp. 121. 
Has chapters on the development of the public schools which have been used very freely in this study. 

[School] History of Arkansas. Richmond, 1905. D. pp. 335. 
Pioneers and Makers of Arkansas. [Little Rock, 1908.] O. pp. 423. 
A gossipy volume on men and affairs; very valuable for local color. 

Swift, Fletcher H. 

History of Public Permanent Common School Funds in the United States. New 
York, 1911. 
Has short chapter on Arkansas. 



INDEX. 



A. 

Academies, history, 12-23. 

Academy of St. Catherine, establishment, 20. 

Acts of legislature, education (1843), 31-34; (1849), 

36; (1851), 36-37; (1853), 38-41; (1867), 49-50. 
Agricultural education, 17, 27, 82, 119-120. 
Americanization of Arkansas, 7-10. 
Appropriations, schools (1909-10), 81. 
Arkansas Journal of Education, history, 58, 109-110. 
Arkansas Library Association, history, 114-115. 
Arkansas School Journal, history, 68-69, 110. 
Arkansas Teachers' Association, history, 109-110. 
Arnold, W. H., on educational conditions, 77-78. 
Attendance, school, census of 1850, 44-45; (1876), 64; 

(1907-8), 80; (1868-1912), 123; school, discussion, 

69; Hot Springs schools, 92. 
Auxiliary educational agencies, 109-115. 



Batesville Academy, establishment, 15-16. 
Batesville Institute, establishment, 19. 
Baxter, Elisha, recognized as legal governor, 59. 
Bible, standard in religion and morals, 18. 
Bibliography, public school education, 127-128. 
Blind, education, 18. 

Board of Education for the State of Arkansas, estab- 
lishment, 33. 
Branch Normal School, establishment, 117. 
Brown, Jesse, founder of Little Rock Academy, 12. 

C. 

Calloway, John, teacher, Clark County, 12. 

Charters, private schools prior to Civil War, 17-23. 

Cherokees, education, 11-12. 

Chicot Academy, and public school idea, 17. 

Church schools, 11-12. 

City school systems, organization (1869-1912), 88-92. 

Clarksville Institute, establishment, 18. 

Clayton, Gov. Powell, on education, 52. 

Coeducational academies, 19. 

College of St. Andrew, establishment, 18. 

Colored Teachers' Association, 117. 

Compulsory attendance acts, 82-83, 120. 

Consolidation of rural schools, 82-83. 

Constitution of 1836, provision regarding education, 

30-31; of 1868, 51-58; of 1874, 59-60. 
Conway, E. N., criticism of law of 1843, 32-33. 
Conway, Gov. J. S., and common schools, 30-31; on 

school funds, 26, 43. 
Cook, G. B., administration, 80-87; and Hot Springs 

schools, 92; on educational commission, 120; on 

educational policy, 113. 
Corbin, J. C, and schools for negroes, 117; educa- 
tional work of, 59; on educational conditions in 

Arkansas, 117. 
Courses of studv, high schools, 87; public schools, 

78. 

53733°— 12 9 



D. 

Denton, J. L., administration, 67-68; and Arkansas 

School Journal, 110; and public schools, 67. 
Doyne, J. J., administration, 75-76. 
Drew, Governor, and educational legislation, 33-34. 

E. 

Earle, F. R., first superintendent of public instruc- 
tion, 50. 

Eastburn, Moses, teacher, 12. 

Education, influence of religion, 22. 

Education Commission, history, 112-113. 

Educational journals, history, 109-111. 

Educational legislation. See School laws. 

Educational statistics, census of 1840, 44; general, 
122-126. 

Enrollment, school (1890), 70-71; (1907-8), 80; (1909), 
81; (1868-1912), 123; Fort Smith schools, 91; Little 
Rock, 90. 

Expenditures, school (1876), 64; (1902-1904), 76; 
(1906-7), 80; (1907-8), 80; (1909), 81; Little Rock, 
90-91; (1868-1912), 125. 

Eureka, schools, organization, 92. 

F. 

Far West Seminary, history, 18. 
Farmers' institutes, work, 119-120. 
Fayetteville Female Academy, establishment, 16. 
Federal censuses (1840, 1850, 1860), statistics of 

schools, 44-46. 
Fish, J. M., and schools of Little Rock, 90. 
Fisher, Prof., on the Branch Normal School, 117. 
Forest schools, 14-15. 
Fort Smith, public schools, 91-92. 
Freedmen's Bureau, schools established, 55; work, 

116. 
Funds, school. See School funds. 



Gates, N. P., and Fort Smith schools, 91. 
Gatewood, E. L., and Arkansas School Journal, 110. 
General Education Board, contributions to educa- 
tion, 120. 
Gerstaecker, Frederick, on forest schools, 14. 
Greer, David B., on condition of common schools, 44. 

H. 

Hays, O. V., and Kellogg's Eclectic Monthly, 110. 

Helena, public schools, 92. 

High schools, 83-84; argument for, 85; classification 
of, 85; course of study, 87; Little Rock, 91; statis- 
tics, 84, 86. 

Hill, G. W., administration, 62-66; report on educa- 
tional conditions, 62-63; report on school system, 
64-66. 

Hinemon, J. H, administration, 76-80. 

Holloway, J. L., and Fort Smith schools, 91. 

129 



130 



INDEX. 



Home rule, restoration (1874-1894), 59-73. 
Hot Springs, schools, organization, 92. 

I. 

Indian schools, during French and Spanish regimes, 

11. 
Indians, missionary schools, 11-12. 

J. 

Jesuits, early schools for instruction of Indians, 11. 

Jordan, Junius, administration, 74-75; on educa- 
tional conditions, 74; on permanent school fund, 
107-108. 

Journals, educational, history, 109-111. 

K. 

Kellogg's Eclectic Monthly, history, 110. 
Kuykendall, J. W., and Fort Smith schools, 92. 



Land funds, State, and public-school system, 24-46. 

Legislation, educational. See School laws. 

Letter of transmittal, 5. 

Libraries, activities, 114; circulating, 13. 

Lindsey, Caleb, teacher, Lawrence County, 12. 

Little Rock, public schools, 89-91. 

Little Rock Academy, and Jesse Brown, 12; curricu- 
lum, 13-14. 

Louisiana Purchase Exposition, educational work 
of Arkansas, 78. 

M. 

Mcllwain, W. J., and Arkansas School Journal, 110. 

Malone, T. B., teacher, 13. 

Manual-labor schools, 17. 

Mecklin, Mr. and Mrs., and school in Washington 

County,. 13. 
Mission schools, for Indians, 11-12. 
Murphy, Governor, administration (1864-1868), 

47-50; on education, 52. 

N. 
Napoleon Public School, establishment, 17. 
Negroes, education, 55; schools, 115-117. 
Newspapers, weekly, 45. 

Normal schools, appropriation, 79; establishment, 
71; expansion and growth, 74-75; negroes, 117. 

P. 

Peabody fund, and schools for negroes, 117; assist- 
ance derived from, 69. 
Permanent school fund, history, 103-108. 
Pine Bluff, public schools, 92. 
Population, statistical view (1722-1910), 8; statistical 

view of sources (1850-1900), 9-10. 
Population, school (1876), 64; (1890) , 70-71; (1902- 

1904), 76; (1906-7), 80; (1909), 81; (1868-1912), 122. 
Pratt, Elizabeth, and Spring Hill Female 

Academy, 13. 
Present era (1894-1912), 74-87. 
Private schools, prior to Civil War, 11-23. 
Property, school (1906-7), 80; (1907-8), 80; (1909), 

81; assessed valuation (1868-1912), 126; Fort Smith 

schools, 91; value, Little Rock, 90. 
Public schools, act of 1867, 49-50; and State land 

funds (1827-1861), 24-46; reports (1854-1861), 41-46; 

statistics of Federal censuses of 1840, 1850, I860' 

44-46. 
See also Chicot Academy. 



R. 

Reconstruction regime (1868-1874), 51, 58; leading 

features in school system, 58. 
Rector, Gov. H. M., report on condition of common 

schools, 43-44. 
Religion, influence of education, 22. 
Reports on schools (1854-1861), 41-46. 
Roman Catholics, schools, 18, 20. 
Revenue, school (1876), 64; (1909), 81; (1868-1912^ 

124. 
Review and aspirations, 118-125. 
Reynolds, J. H., on high schools, 84. 
Rightsell, J. R., on public schools of Little Rock, 89. 
Rural schools, condition (1905), 78; consolidation 

82-83; needs, 119-120. 

S. 

St. John's College, establishment, 21. 

Salaries, teachers. See Teachers, salaries. 

Saline fund, history, 101-103. 

School attendance. See Attendance, school. 

School districts, special (1905-6), 77. 

School funds, 24-28, 46, 54, 61-62, 81; apportionment 

(1912), 126; Fort Smith, 91; increase, 119; origin 

and history of permanent, 93-108. 
Schoolhouses (1876), 64; (1905-6), 78; (1868-19P) 

122. 

School improvement associations, history, 111-112. 

School lands, 63-64. 

School laws, 30-41, 49-50, 56, 57, 60-61; act of 1849, 

36; act of 1851, 36-37; act of 1853, 38-41. 
School property. See Property , school. 
School year, statistics (1868-1912), 122. 
Scott, A. M., and school in Little Rock, 13. 
Seminary and saline funds, 25-28. 
Seminary fund, history, 97-101. 
Settlement, French and Spanish, 7. 
Shinn, J. H., administration, 70-73; and Arkansas 
Teacher, 110; on administration of James L. 
Denton, 67; on condition of public schools, 70-73; 
on forest schools, 14-15; on reconstruction consti- 
tution, 52-53; on school legislation, 59; on six- 
teenth section fund, 29-30. 
Sixteenth section fund, history, 29-30, 93-97. 
Smith, Thomas, and Arkansas Journal of Educa- 
tion, 109-110; on educational conditions, 55. 
Southern Education Board, activities, 112. 
Spring Hill Female Academy, 13. 
State Board of Education, establishment, S3; his- 
tory, 113-114. 
State land funds, and public-school system. 24-46. 
State superintendents, succession since 1875, 62. 
Statistics, school (1876), 64; (1906-7), 80: (1907-8), 

80; (1909), 81. 
Superintendents, circuit, salaries, 55-56; county, 
establishment of office, 79-80. 



Taxation, school, 46, 50, 54, 61, 73, 79. 

Teachers, number (1906-7), 80; (1868-1912). 122: 

salaries, 55, 64, 77-78, 80-81, 90-91; work of. in 

early days, 12-14. 
Teachers' institutes, 83. 
Teachers' reading circle, history. 112. 
Textbooks, free, discussion, 69; State (1843), 34-36: 

uniform, 120. 



INDEX. 



131 



Thompson, W. E., administration, 67, 69-70; on 
condition of public schools, 70. 

Torreyson, B. W., and Fort Smith schools, 92; and 
schools of Little Rock, 90; on establishment of 
high schools, 85-86; on rural schools, 120-121. 

W. 

Washburn, Cephas, and education of Indians, 11-12; 

and Far West Seminary, 18. 
Weathers, J. R., and Arkansas School Journal, 110. 
Weaver, S. M., report on public schools, 43. 



Wheatley, Emma, and Fort Smith schools, 91. 
Wiener, H. M., teacher, 13. 
Witter, Darnel, teacher, 12. 
Woodruff, W. E., and circulating library, 13. 
World's Columbian Exposition, educational ex- 
hibit, Arkansas schools, 72. 
Wright, P., and Little Rock Academy, 13-14. 

Y. 

Yell, Gov. Archibald, and recommendation of agri- 
cultural education, 27. 



LEFe 13 



J$~- 



BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF EDUCATION. 

(Continued from p. 2 of cover.) 

No. 6. Graduate work in mathematics in universities. 

No. 7. Undergraduate work in mathematics in colleges and universities. 

No. 8. Examinations in mathematics. 

No. 9. Mathematics in technological schools of collegiate grade. 

No. 10. Bibliography of education for 1909-10. 

No. 11. Bibliography of child study for the years 1908-9. 

No. 12. Training of teachers of elementary and secondary mathematics. 

No. 13. Mathematics in elementary schools. 

No. 14. Provision for exceptional children in the public schools. 

No. 15. The educational system of China as recently reconstructed. 

No. 16. Mathematics in public and private secondary schools. 

No. 17. List of publications of the United States Bureau of Education, October, 1911. 

No. 18. Teacher's certificates (laws and regulations). Harlan Updegraff. 

No. 19. Statistics of State universities, etc., 1910-11. 

1912. 

No. 1. Course of study for rural-school teachers. Fred Mutchler and W. J. Craig. 

No. 2. Mathematics at West Point and Annapolis. 

No. 3. Report of committee on uniform records and reports. 

No. 4. Mathematics in technical secondary schools. 

No. 5. A study of expenses of city school systems. Harlan Updegraff. 

No. 6. Agricultural education in secondary schools. 

No. 7. Educational status of nursing. M. Adelaide Nutting. 

No. 8. Peace day. Fannie F. Andrews. 

No. 9. Country schools for city boys. William Starr Myers. 

No. 10. Bibliography of education in agriculture and home economics. 

No. 11. Current educational topics, No. I. 

No. 12. Dutch schools of New Netherland and colonial New York. W. H. Kilpatrick. 

No. 13. Influences tending to improve the work of- the teacher of mathematics. 

No. 14. Report of the American commissioners on the teaching of mathematics. 

No. 15. Current educational topics, No. II. 

No. 16. The reorganized school playground. Henry S." Curtis. 

No. 17. The Montessori system of education. Anna Tolman Smith. 

No. 18. Teaching language through agriculture and domestic science. M. A.Leiper. 

No. 19. Professional distribution of college and university graduates. B. B. Burritt. 

No. 20. Readjustment of a rural high school to the needs of the community. H. A. 

Brown. 
No. 21. A comparison of urban and rural common-school statistics. H. Updegraff 

andW. R.Hood. 
No. 22. Public and private high schools. 

No. 23. Special collections in libraries in the United States. W. Dawson Johnston 
H and Isadore G. Mudge. 

No. 24. Current educational topics, No. III. 

No. 25. List of publications of the United States Bureau of Education, 1912. 
No. 26. Bibliography of child study for the years 1910-1911. 



